Secrets
by The Name's Laura
Summary: Vlad Masters is a disturbing man, a crazed up froot-loop. No one knows this better than Danny Fenton. But Vlad can get creepier, and he will get creepier. And to think it all started with a hand on the shoulder... Watch as Danny's life begins to spiral downwards as he is forced to keep Vlad's little...secret. Will Vlad's murder threats be enough to keep Danny quiet?
1. Wake-Up Call

"Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

-Benjamin Franklin

CHAPTER ONE

"Come on, Danny," Jazz said as she shook her brother gently. "It's time to get up."

Danny groaned and pulled his blanket over his head.

"Danny, I know you were fighting ghosts last night, but you still need to get up. It's time for school!" Jazz said happily.

Danny groaned even louder.

Jazz sighed. "Okay, I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice." She yanked the blankets off of the bed, revealing a small, black-haired teenage boy, who looked so innocent in his half-asleep daze. She grabbed his arm before he could react and she began tickling him. Danny's eyes popped open as he twitched around, trying not to laugh. Jazz started tickling his stomach, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. Danny giggled uncontrollably.

"J-Jazz...s-stop..." He panted in between giggles.

"Are you going to get up?" She asked.

"Yes." He sighed. Jazz smirked and stopped tickling him at once. Danny got up and grunted.

"God, Jazz! You can't do that anymore! I'm fourteen, practically an adult!"

"Oh Danny, you're not even close to being an adult. You're only fourteen, and sorry to break it to you little brother, but you're not even tall enough to ride some of the rollercoasters at the amusement park."

"Ugh, fine." Danny groaned as he pulled one of his signature t-shirts out of the drawer.

"Breakfast is in ten minutes!" Jazz sing-songed, as she proudly strutted out of the room.

Danny groggily replaced his night shirt with one of his white t-shirts, slipped on a pair of skinny jeans (that were still too baggy for him), and topped it off with his red Converse sneakers.

He was battling Skulker until one o'clock in the morning, and then the Box Ghost decided it would be nice to pay him a visit right after. Apparently, he had learned a few tricks from the Lunch Lady, because the battle took way longer than it needed too. By then, it was three in the morning, and Danny was dead tired.

He trudged down the creaky stairs and walked into the kitchen, where Jazz was sitting at the table, reading a psychology book.

"Morning, Danny." Jazz said in her upbeat voice, which Danny found annoying at the moment.

"Morning..." He mumbled while slumping into a chair.

Jazz smiled and set down her cup of coffee. "How late were they keeping you up last night?"

"Three A.M." Danny groaned. "Nothing I'm not used to, though."

"Oh God, that's not nearly enough sleep, Danny!" Jazz gasped. "I wish you could rest more."

"Me too..." He mumbled.

Suddenly, Jack burst into the room with an ecstatic smile on his face. In one hand, he held a phone, and in the other, he held a bowl of fudge.

"Guess what, kids?" Jack bellowed excitedly. "Vladdie's coming to visit us tomorrow! He'll be staying in a hotel not far from us! Isn't that great?!"

Jazz and Danny both tried their best to fight their groans and anger, and they let out a strained smile.

"That's...that's great dad." Jazz said, fake-enthused.

Danny just slumped further down in his chair and grunted quietly.

"He's going to visit us every single day for the next week! Won't that be fun?" Jack exclaimed.

"Yay," Danny mumbled.

"He's especially excited to see you, Danny. He says he has some fun things planned for all of us!" Jack was smiling bigger than ever.

"Yeah, dad, we're really excited." Jazz said, trying to sound happy.

"I'm so glad you kids are happy about it! I can't wait!" Jack boomed, and then waltzed back through the door and into the lab.

"Ready for our _fun _visits from our favorite Uncle Vlad...?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"_Totally,_" Jazz fake smiled.

"I'm going to camp out at Sam's for the entire week."

"I'm coming with you." Jazz mumbled. "Wonder what _fun_ things he has planned for you, Danny."

"As long as he stays out of my way, we won't have as many problems." Danny said, his eyes flashing green.

Jazz laughed. "Come on, little bro. Let's go to school." They marched into Jazz's car and soon they were on their way to Casper High.

Oh, what _fun _things Vlad had in store for Danny. Poor kid doesn't know his life's about to take a nasty turn for the worst.


	2. I Ain't Afraid a' no Ghosts!

"I thought about how there are two types of secrets: the kind you want to keep in, and the kind you don't dare to let out."

-Ally Carter

CHAPTER TWO

Danny, Sam, and Tucker strode through the halls of Casper High, as Danny explained the whole "Vlad Situation".

"So Vlad's going to come over _every day _for the next _week_?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Yup, and apparently he said he has some _fun _things planned, just for me. So I'm guessing he's just planning on kicking my butt every single day." Danny grumbled.

"That sucks, dude." Tucker said. "But hey, it's not like you can't defend yourself, if he does try something. You can just stay over my house for the entire week!"

"I wish. But what if he tries to 'destroy' my dad? I have to be there to protect him. Or what if he tries to kidnap my mom? I can't let that happen. I wish that stupid froot-loop would just stay _out _of my _life." _Danny moaned.

The bell rang, signaling that Lancer's class was starting. The three made it in the room just in time.

"Huh." Danny thought aloud. "I've never been on time for Lancer's class before."

"It's not like it's your fault you're always late." Tucker added.

"Why do ghosts have to be such morning people?" Sam groaned.

"Hey, let's just enjoy not having detention while it lasts." Danny smiled.

Taking their seats, they took out the homework that Danny didn't have the time to do the second half of. He yawned from the lack of sleep and began scribbling down random answers. Lancer looked at him confusedly, like he was either impressed with Danny being on time, or suspicious as to why this was the only day he _was _on time.

Lancer swept up and down the chain of desks, collecting the students' papers. Danny finished writing down the last nonsense answer in the nick of time. Danny propped up his head on his hand and sighed. Lancer glanced at Danny's homework, eyed him for a moment, snatched the paper and walked away.

"Class, open your textbooks to page 271." Lancer said in his monotone voice.

As Lancer blabbed on for what seemed like centuries on end, Danny tried his best to pay attention and not fall asleep. He tried, that is, until a branch scratched against the window.

Having grown overly-protective due to ghost-fighting, Danny's head snapped towards the window. But there was nothing there.

'_It's the wind, Fenton. Chill out.' _Danny thought.

He sighed and returned his eyes to his lap. About five minutes later, the wind made a loud whistling noise. Danny swore he heard laughter.

Danny looked over at Sam and Tucker, who obviously hadn't noticed what he had. Sam doodled absentmindedly in her notebook while Tucker was fighting the urge to give into sleep.

'_You only go if your ghost sense goes off. And was there a ghost sense? No! Relax and pay attention to this stupid class that you're going to fail!' _Danny's subconscious yelled.

He tried his hardest to ignore the wind and giggles. He scribbled angrily in his notebook until the paper ripped.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked, annoyed.

"Um, no..." Danny mumbled.

"Then please pay attention and stop wasting paper." Lancer sighed and continued ranting on about the auto-industry.

It had to be the longest hour of his entire life. The deep, mocking giggles from somewhere outside...they just wouldn't stop! The bell finally rang, and Danny jumped out of his seat and zoomed straight to Sam and Tucker.

"Did you guys hear that?" Danny asked desperately.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked confusedly.

"The...the laughing...coming from outside! It was all echo-y! And the wind! Did you not hear that?!" Danny panicked.

"Dude, how much sleep did you get last night?" Tucker joked.

"I'm serious!"

"Calm down, Danny, you're so paranoid." Sam said as she led the way to their next class.

All day it went on like this. Every single class, there was that creepy snickering attacking Danny's ears. Why hadn't his ghost sense gone off? Was it even a ghost? Or was he just suffering from the lack of sleep?

Finally, the final bell rang. Danny practically fell out of the classroom, groaning angrily and gripping Tucker's backpack for support.

"All day, all freaking day that stupid giggling went on!" Danny yelled.

"Danny. There was no giggling! You need sleep. You're going crazy!" Sam shook his shoulders.

"Okay, okay. You're probably right." Danny sighed.

"Good luck with Vlad, dude. I'll be home if you need anything." Tucker assured.

"As will I, just call us." Sam said. And then the three departed.

Danny ran outside and hid behind a tree. Making sure no one was around, he whispered his signature phrase.

"Going ghost,"

The blinding rings appeared at his waist and travelled up and down his body. Adrenaline started pumping. His warm, human feeling turned to an icy, weightless feeling. Ebony hair turned to silvery-white. Electric blue eyes turned to toxic green. The t-shirt and jeans were replaced with a slimming black hazmat suit, with his superhero emblem on his chest.

With a confident smirk, he took off to the sky. It was a peaceful flight. No ghosts, no Valerie trying to kill him, no Guys in White trying to capture him. He smiled and soared faster. As Fenton Works became closer and closer, he descended to the ground and switched back into his human identity.

And he almost puked at what he saw when he walked through his front door.

Vlad Masters sat beside his father, sipping a cup of steaming tea. When Vlad saw him, he smiled deviously and set down his cup.

"Hey, Danny-boy!" His father exclaimed. "How was school?"

"Good..." Danny said quietly.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Daniel. I look forward to spending time with you and your family this week." Vlad remarked, creepily.

"O-Okay..." Danny mumbled.

"Vladdie just got here. You remembered he was coming, right?" Jack asked.

"Oh, how could I forget?" Danny said unenthused.

"Do you have homework, Daniel?" Vlad asked. "Was there too much _laughter, _so you couldn't focus?"

Danny stood confused for a moment, but then it hit him.

'_He's been spying on you all day.'_

"You...I...I have homework." And with that, he sped up the stairs.

He slammed the door behind him and threw his backpack on his bed. He punched the wall and groaned.

"All...freaking..._day..."_ He mumbled.

Suddenly, he felt a cold hand run up and down his arm. It made him shudder. Turning around quickly, he saw Vlad in his ghost form behind him.

"What the _heck, _Plasmius?"

"Shh..." Vlad said, putting a finger to Danny's lips. And with that, he disappeared.

Danny had a bad feeling in his stomach.


	3. Now That's What I Call a Froot-Loop

"A secret is a kind of promise... It can also be a prison."

-Jennifer Lee Carrell

CHAPTER THREE

He stood motionless in his bedroom, staring out the window. A million thoughts raced through his mind, though not even a whisper escaped his mouth. His feelings were sent into overdrive. He wasn't sure if he was scared, angry, or confused, but whatever it was, it gave him the chills.

Danny walked slowly over to the window and opened it slightly, so a cool breeze could brush against his skin.

"Why are you scared?" He asked aloud to himself. "Are you scared? You have no reason to be. Vlad's just...he's...he's just a froot-loop. A seriously crazed up froot-loop, and you're a hero."

He stared at the streetlights below. Then he looked up at the stars. Staring at them for a long time, he found comfort in the beautiful array of constellations. But that weird feeling in his gut wouldn't go away.

'_I don't like the way he touched me.' _Danny thought.

He listened to the sound of his father's booming laughter coming from downstairs. Then he listened to his mother's forced giggles. Vlad's sophisticated chuckle seemed to echo through the room. Danny shuddered.

"Suck it up." He told himself. "You're not scared. You have no reason to be scared. You're Danny Phantom, and you're a hero. And heroes are brave."

Suddenly, he heard his family bidding Vlad good night. Then the door clicked shut.

Danny exhaled deeply. He was afraid he would have to stay up all night if Vlad didn't leave soon.

'_He's gone now, okay Fenton? Not that it mattered, because you're not scared.'_

But his thoughts were lying to him. He felt uncomfortable and weary. Danny thought he would never ask for this; but he actually _wanted _a ghost to show up so he could put his mind on something else.

As if on cue, the freezing blue mist escaped his lips.

"I am the Box Ghost!"

"Puh-lease," Danny scoffed, reverting to ghost form. He grabbed a thermos and soared out into the night.

The Box Ghost floated about thirty feet away, yelling into the sky.

"I am the Box Ghost! I will have my corrugated cardboard vengeance!"

"You've already used that line before." Danny said as he effortlessly sucked him into the thermos.

He felt a million times better. He was about to take off for home, but suddenly,

There was a hand on his shoulder.

Danny spun around quickly and went into his battle position. Whatever the figure was went invisible.

"Show yourself!" Danny yelled.

Something grabbed him by the throat and dragged him down. Danny struggled and thrashed and tried to go intangible, but nothing worked.

The figure smashed him against a brick wall and held him there. As the figure slowly regained its visibility, Danny's eyes widened.

"Plasmius!" Danny choked. "Let GO of me!"

"I'm afraid I can't, little badger."

Vlad released Danny's throat for a split second, but then threw him to the ground and held him down with his hand. Vlad ripped the front of Danny's hazmat suit off and ran his hands up and down Danny's chest in a disturbing manner.

"Stop it!" Danny screamed. "Get OFF OF ME!"

He squirmed and kicked like a madman. He almost succeeded in going intangible, but to his horror, Vlad pulled something out of his cape.

The Plasmius Maximus.

He shoved it against Danny's arm and it sent out violent shocks that made Danny cry out in pain. Before he knew it, he was Fenton again, a powerless, helpless little human kid.

Which meant Danny couldn't fight him off.

Vlad noticed the pure terror in Danny's eyes and smiled sinisterly. He ran his tongue up and down Danny's face and sank his fangs into Danny's cheeks and neck several times.

"STOP! Get AWAY from me!"

Vlad only laughed and pressed his lips violently against Danny's, which muffled the fourteen year old's screams. Danny could feel blood trickling down his face and neck. He pounded his fists against the ground and kicked his legs in attempt to make the older halfa stop. Still muted by Vlad's horrifying kiss, silent tears ran down Danny's cheeks.

Vlad finally pulled back, but then started running his hands up and down the length of Danny's body. Danny finally managed to squirm free, and he sprinted for his life. But Vlad was faster, and he actually had his powers at the moment. He shot a pink disk at Danny's back, who screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Dazed, in pain, and terrified, he curled up into a ball on the ground as Vlad zoomed over and yanked up Danny's head by his hair. Vlad's bloody eyes seemed to burn a hole straight through Danny's head.

"Don't think this is the one and only time this will be happening, Daniel." Vlad said. "And if you tell a single _soul _about what is happening, then I will have the heads of everyone you love on a platter. Do you understand?"

Danny shook violently.

"Do you UNDERSTAND, Daniel?!" Vlad growled.

"Y-Yes..." Danny whispered through his tears.

"This will be our little secret." Vlad smirked. And with that, he flew off into the night.

Danny was still curled up in a ball. In an alleyway, bleeding, and trembling.

Still sobbing, he slowly got up. His body was sore. He felt nauseous. But he had to get home.

He sprinted towards Fenton Works, and was about to open the door, but Vlad's words left a permanent mark in his mind.

'_If you tell a single soul about what is happening, then I will have the heads of everyone you love on a platter.'_

Shuddering, he climbed up the bricks and used the windowsills as support until he reached his bedroom window. It was still open from earlier that evening. He stumbled into his room, pulled out the first aid kit from under his bed, and patched himself up.

When he was finished, he sprang up, locked the window tightly, closed the curtains, jumped into his bed and hid underneath the covers. He sobbed to the point of exhaustion;

...But there was no way he was getting any sleep tonight.


	4. PTSD-Worthy

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart."

-Saint Jerome

CHAPTER FOUR

The red numbers on the alarm clock read 4:45 A.M.

He had not gotten a wink of sleep.

His night consisted of muted sobs and trembling, and the fear that _he _was watching him.

He was buried beneath his blankets, paralyzed with fear. Despite the situation, he wasn't sure what he was more afraid of;

The fact that this would continue happening to him; or the fact that if anyone found out what was happening to him, Vlad would easily kill everyone he loved right before his eyes.

_Vlad._

Danny shuddered at the name. Yes, Vlad had hurt him before. Some of the times were more serious than others...but they were never anything like..._this._

When Danny found out that Vlad would be coming to his house _every day _for the next _week, _he thought that meant endless battles and trying to keep his parents safe.

But he never imagined this.

Despite all the ghost fights and the near death experiences, this was the most terrifying thing Danny had ever gone through.

He didn't know what to do.

The room was so eerily quiet. The only noise to speak of was Jack Fenton's deep, steady breaths echoing down the hallway.

And Danny knew that if he didn't keep this secret, those deep breaths would be no more. He would be alone. He thought of his mother's caring smile. He thought of his sister's calming voice; Sam's beautiful and determined eyes; and Tucker's laugh.

They would be gone if they ever found out.

His powers had come back a little while ago; he could feel the iciness of his ghost core growing strong again. It didn't send adrenaline through him like it should have. Instead, it just made the fear grow. Because he knew that Phantom couldn't save him this time.

Vlad was smarter, faster, stronger, and had twenty years of experience with his powers. Danny had about seven months of experience with his. Danny couldn't outrun him.

He lay motionless for hours, just staring at the ceiling. Not thinking much of anything. The alarm clock gave a little _click _whenever the minute changed. The endless night was deliberately coming to a close.

The clock beeped several times, signaling that it was time to get up. Danny nearly jumped out of his skin, and he fell to the floor. He pounded his fist against the 'off' button and took deep breaths. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute.

'_It's just the alarm clock. You're fine, you're fine, you're fine. Calm down.' _He thought.

Danny cautiously lifted himself from the ground and grabbed a clean shirt to replace his bloodstained one. He didn't even change out of his shoes last night. Giving his hair a quick ruffle, he trudged down the hallway towards the stairs.

Someone patted him on the back, which Danny jumped violently at.

Danny spun around and pressed his back against the wall. His father was staring at him confusedly, his hand still in the air from the pat.

"Oh, sorry son; didn't mean to scare ya..." Jack said, scratching his head.

"S-S'okay..."

Jack's big, childish smile returned. "Great! Come on, boy, your mom's makin' waffles, with FUDGE!"

"C-Cool," Danny stuttered as Jack led him downstairs.

The kitchen smelled of breakfast foods and the to-die-for scent of fudge. Maddie stirred the warm chocolate liquid in a large bowl and smiled over at Danny.

"Hey, sweetie, come have some waffles!" Maddie said delightedly.

Jazz sat primly at the kitchen table, looking like her positive self.

"Morning, Danny." Jazz smiled.

Danny mumbled a quiet 'morning' and slid into the seat next to his sister. He bit his lip to keep from having a meltdown and crying to them about what happened.

Maddie set down a plate of waffles in front of Danny and poured fudge all over them.

"T-Thanks mom,"

Soon, his whole family sat down at the table and happily ate their breakfasts. Danny wanted to scream.

"How'd you sleep, kids?" Jack asked.

"Great! I tried this new aromatherapy candle that relieves stress and helps you sleep." Jazz said.

"Cool, honey, how about you, Danny?" Maddie asked.

"G-Good." Danny lied.

'_How do you not see the bags under my eyes?' _Danny wanted to yell.

He poked at his food and took a tiny bite. He had lost his appetite entirely. He let his dark bangs fall in front of his eyes and he looked into his lap, trying not to yell and scream.

"Everything okay, Danny?" Jazz asked.

His head snapped up and he gave her an obviously fake smile. "Yeah, I'm-I'm good."

'_NO! I'm NOT good! I'm not okay!'_

"Good, ready for school?" She asked, pushing her plate away from her.

"Sure."

'_I'm not ready! No! Please help me! I'm not okay!'_

Danny grabbed his backpack and followed Jazz out the door towards her car.

"Have fun, kids!" Jack boomed.

'_You have to help me! Please!'_

"Bye..." Danny mumbled.

The car ride was quiet. Danny answered his sister's questions with one-worded answers, afraid that if he opened his mouth anymore, he would spill everything. Jazz noticed his withdrawn posture and lack of conversation, and being a future psychologist, she took interest to this.

"Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You seemed really freaked out this morning."

"I fight ghosts for a living." He chuckled nervously.

"You barely ate any food."

"Wasn't hungry," He shrugged.

Jazz eyed him for a moment, but then parked the car in the lot of Casper High. Danny opened the door quickly and sprang out. He was ready to sprint towards the school, until Jazz stopped him.

"Did something...happen?" Jazz asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're really jumpy. Did a ghost fight get bad or something?"

"No, no I'm fine. I just-um, the fudge his giving me, like, um, a sugar high I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Okay..." Jazz sighed. "Well, please, if something's wrong, promise you'll tell me."

'_If only I could...'_

"Okay, see you later." He smiled nervously, and then sprinted for his life towards the school. He nearly knocked over Sam and Tucker while running.

"Whoa, watch it dude!" Tucker said.

"Jeez, Danny, you almost killed us!" Sam brushed off her skirt.

"Oh, uh, sorry guys...I didn't uh-see you there." Danny said.

"It's fine man. C'mon, let's go." Tucker laughed.

The trio walked through the doors of Casper High and trudged towards Lancer's class. Sam and Tucker debated over which video game they thought was better, but Danny was silent.

'_What if he gets me during school? What if someone finds out? What if I hear that giggling again? What if-'_

"Danny!"

He was knocked out of his worried daze and raised his head to see his best friends staring at him confusedly.

"Dude, we've been talking to you for like five minutes!"

"Did you not hear us saying your name?" Sam asked with her eyebrow raised.

"Sorry guys, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I'm kind of out of it..." Danny said sheepishly.

"Oh jeez, how much sleep did you get?" Tucker asked.

"Oh, um, like a couple hours..."

'_Ha. I got no sleep. And do you know WHY?' _His thoughts screamed.

"Yikes. Well, you can sleep in Lancer's class again." Sam laughed.

The rest of the day was a living hell for the young halfa. Every time he blinked, he saw Vlad, ready to pounce on him and...touch him. Vlad's threats played over and over in his mind. Danny was quiet most of the day. He didn't speak unless he was asked a question. He barely touched his lunch.

Sam and Tucker noticed this and glanced at each other worriedly. Everything around him seemed to go in slow motion for Danny.

'_He's going to do it again. It could be today. It probably will. He'll be there when you get home.'_

The final bell rang.

'_It's time to go. It's time to go see Vladdie!' _His mind taunted.

"Dude, are you sure you're okay?" Tucker asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why?"

"You've barely spoken all day! Your eyes are all huge and you look exhausted! What happened?" Sam exclaimed.

"I told you, ghost fight. Skulker kept me up until like three A.M. last night. He wouldn't quit. It was really annoying." Danny shrugged.

"Fine, just call us if you can." Sam said.

"Oh and how's the whole 'Vlad Situation'? You never told us about that." Tucker punched Danny's arm playfully.

Danny's breath hitched in his throat. His heart drummed rapidly in his chest.

"He wasn't there when I got home." Danny lied. "My dad said he was there most of the day though. Guess I got lucky this time."

"Heck yeah you did." Sam chuckled.

"Alright, well see you later dude." Tucker laughed. Then the three friends went their separate ways.

Danny ran to the boy's bathroom and raced into a stall. He held onto the bar on the wall and hung his head over the toilet. He was sure he was going to puke. He was shaky and clammy. After taking several deep breaths, he regained his composure and walked slowly out of the stall. He glanced in one of the mirrors.

He looked deader in his human form than he ever would in his ghost form.

Danny was pale. His ocean blue eyes were huge and had dark circles underneath them.

Taking a shuddering breath, he let the white rings encase him, and he flew through the ceiling and into the sky.

And that's when he realized his life was about to drown in a downwards spiral.


	5. What a Wonderful World

"All secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets."

-Cory Doctorow

CHAPTER FIVE

He flew quickly and invisibly. The sleepless night was taking a toll on him. It took great strength just to remain in his ghost form. He wanted to sleep for a million years. He wanted to sleep until this huge mess was over with.

'_That's not how Danny Phantom handles his problems.' _His subconscious scolded.

Sighing, Danny floated downwards until his silver boots pressed against the pavement. Still invisible, he leaned against the brick wall of a building and buried his face in his hands.

"I see you."

Suddenly, sharp and painful currents coursed through his body. Screaming from surprise and pain, he collapsed to the hard pavement and looked around warily. A dark lock of hair fell in front of his eyes.

'_You're screwed.' _His thoughts taunted.

Danny staggered to his feet quickly, and he sprinted as fast as his now human body would allow him to.

'_Screwed, screwed, you're screwed!' _His thoughts taunted.

He could hear Vlad's cackling as he gained closer.

'_Run, Forrest, Run!' _The voice in his head laughed.

But he wasn't fast enough. Vlad effortlessly shot him down with a simple ecto-blast. Danny's head started spinning and he tripped and skidded across the grass. His vision was blurry, everything ached. If his ghost powers weren't disabled, he could have bounced back like it was nothing.

But for the next three hours, he would be a defenseless human kid.

Plasmius launched another blast at Danny, which struck his back forcefully, and Danny was too worn out to lift his head anymore. He felt himself being dragged across the ground, and before he knew it, he was once again being pinned to a brick wall by his neck.

'_Please, God, no. Please, God, if you're out there, please help me.' _He pleaded in his mind.

"Why're you-" Danny coughed from being held by his neck. "-doing this to me, Plasmius?!"

"That's not what matters here, Daniel." Vlad hissed. "What matters is that it's _happening._"

"What does that even mean?!" Danny wheezed.

"Enough chatter."

Vlad sent painful currents through Danny's body. Then he dropped his limp body onto the pavement.

Danny was only half-conscious, Vlad's shocks paralyzed his fragile human body.

"Please...don't..." Danny whispered.

But he could already feel Plasmius abusing him, once again.

"Please...stop..."

All Danny could do was cry.

He blocked out everything that was going on around him with his cries. He wasn't sure how long it had been. Two minutes or two hours could have passed.

For a moment, he swore he was hallucinating. Danny opened his eyes to see his friends laughing, his family smiling. But he blinked, and the beautiful hallucination was gone. Vlad's sinister face sneered down at him.

"See you at dinner, Daniel." Vlad cackled. "Can't wait to share some quality time with you and your family..."

Danny shivered.

"Oh, and speaking of your family, you remember what I told you, correct? Tell anyone, and you'll be looking down at them in their caskets."

Vlad chuckled once again, and then flew soundlessly away.

'_What kind of superhero are you?' _Danny's taunting thoughts returned.

He wrapped his arms around his knees and stared straight ahead; stray tears trickling down his cheeks.

The Sun still shone bright through the tree branches, he guessed it was only about 3:30, just an hour and a half after school ended.

'_Get ready for dinner, Danny.'_

"No..." He whispered to himself. "No, no, _no..._"

'_He's gonna get you.'_

"Stop..." He mumbled in response to his stubborn subconscious.

'_Ooo, you have to have a CONVERSATION with him, and pretend nothing happened! Won't that be FUN?'_

"Stop!" He screamed, jumping up.

He sprinted towards his home, wiping away tears that escaped his glassy eyes. Hopefully Vlad didn't do anything that made him bleed.

A few blocks later, Fenton Works was in sight. He stood perfectly still for a long moment, his eyes stinging from the hot tears and the wind making his hair flail in all directions. Taking a deep breath, he walked briskly towards the front door. He could already hear the laughter of everyone inside.

Danny began shaking uncontrollably. Sweat cascaded his forehead and his hands were clammy. He gently touched the brass doorknob.

'_Here goes everything. Don't blow it.'_

The knob turned.

He walked inside.

His ears were attacked by Vlad's voice.

"...think Danny's home..." A voice from the kitchen said.

"Marvelous..." A voice that had to be Vlad's replied.

"Danny? You home?" His mother called.

Danny walked a few steps further into the house, afraid to go near the kitchen.

"Y-Yeah, m-mom..." He stuttered.

Maddie walked through the kitchen door that led towards the foyer, where Danny stood.

She ruffled his hair lovingly.

"How was school, sweetie?"

"F-Fine..."

"That's good. _Vlad's _here." Maddie shuddered. "That guy is such a creep."

'_You have absolutely no idea.' _He thought.

"Don't sweat it, though. We can just eat a little something, and then go do our own thing. We can leave him with your dad." She smiled.

"O-Okay..."

Maddie smiled again, and then started walking towards the kitchen. Before she could get further than three steps, Danny threw his arms around her waist.

She was surprised for a moment, but then looked down at her son burying his face in her stomach, squeezing her tightly. She smiled again.

"Oh, honey, how sweet!" She started walking again, but Danny still didn't budge, in fact, he squeezed tighter, holding onto her for dear life.

Confused, she returned the hug graciously. He held onto her for almost ten minutes, not saying a word, just sucking out comfort.

"Danny," She wheezed. "You're starting to suffocate me, honey." Danny let go and looked up at her with bewildered eyes.

"Yeah, sorry..." He said sheepishly.

Maddie smiled again. She led him towards the kitchen.

She opened the door.

Vlad's cold eyes pierced through his own.

He wanted to scream.

"Danny!" Jack bellowed.

"Hello, Daniel." Vlad sneered.

Jazz's eyes just darted between the two halfas nervously, as if she had found out something...

'_Please, don't let her find out...'_

Danny looked around the table. The only seat left was...

_...right next to Vlad._

He muted his shuddered gasp. Vlad's expression seemed to scream: _"I win!"_

"Why don't you take a seat?" Vlad smiled creepily.

'_Dear God.'_

Danny slid into the dreaded seat next to his archenemy; and sat as close to the edge as he could.

"Dinner's ready." Maddie said, dodging Vlad's eye contact.

"Yeah, baby!" Jack exclaimed.

"Excellent." Vlad said, eyeing Danny.

Jazz still stared at both of them.

Maddie placed the casserole on the table, and a newfound hope sprouted in Danny.

'_You don't have to talk to him. He can talk to everyone else.'_

But Lord, was he wrong...

As soon as the plates were passed and the food was handed out, Vlad attacked Danny with questions left and right.

"How was school today, Daniel? Anything _fun _happen?"

"Oh, the teenage years... Do you ever feel a little, _overanxious, _so to speak?"

"Anything that may have made you feel _uncomfortable? _I know high school can do that to you."

It was nonetheless torture.

It lasted for almost an hour.

Question after question, one-worded answer after one-worded answer, stares after stares.

He would have loved to die right then and there.

As soon as dinner was over, even though Danny had barely touched his, he quickly got up and headed upstairs.

He flopped down on his bed and took deep breaths.

'_Calm down. You're going to be fine.'_

He wanted to believe it.

'_Everything will be okay.'_

If only.

'_Nothing is going to hurt you.'_

Lies...

His ocean of worries was interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"Danny? Can I come in?"

It was Jazz.

"Y-Yeah, s-sure..."

Jazz quietly opened the door and walked over to the bed. Her shoes clicked against the ground.

"Explain." She demanded.

"Explain what?"

"Danny, something's obviously wrong. What was going on down there?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"You are the worst liar I have ever come across in my entire sixteen years of life. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong!"

She sighed. "Danny, I just want to make sure you're happy. And if something is wrong, you know you can come to me. I can help you."

'_That's what you think.'_

"You've been kind of..._off _for the past couple days. Since Vlad arrived, to be more specific. Did he...threaten you or something?"

'_YES! YES HE DID HE'S BEEN THREATENING ME IN THE WORST WAYS POSSIBLE PLEASE HELP-'_

"No, Jazz." Danny lied. "He's just a froot-loop. And even if he were, I can defend myself."

'_YOU JUST LECTURED ME ON HOW BAD OF A LIAR I AM HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT I AM TOTALLY LYING TO YOU RIGHT NOW?!'_

"You're sure."

"Totally,"

"And you're telling me that nothing is wrong."

'_EVERYTHING IS WRONG BUT IF I TELL YOU HE'S GONNA KILL YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO HELP-'_

"Yup, nothing's wrong." Danny lied again.

'_DON'T LISTEN TO ME WHAT ARE YOU DOING I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE A FREAKING PSYCHOLOGIST'_

"Okay, but if I see you act like this again, I'm saying something to mom and dad."

"Okay."

"See you later." Jazz said suspiciously, and then walked out.

Danny punched his pillow repeatedly, and cried until he finally fell asleep.


	6. Ring Ring, it's Your Rapist

"If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself."

―George Orwell

CHAPTER SIX

It was peaceful, falling asleep after almost a week without. In fact, it was probably one of the deepest sleeps he ever had. But he had cried himself to exhaustion.

Danny's serenity would not last long, though.

The freezing in his gut tugged at his consciousness.

The icy mist escaping his lips began to pull him upwards from the ocean of sleep.

_Slash._

_Drip drop._

All of a sudden, it felt like he was being cut open by a knife. His upper arm stung.

_Rip._

_Drip drop._

Danny hissed and sprang up in his bed, his eyes flashing a frightening shade of green. His ghost sense went off again. But the room was filled with nothing but silence.

The stinging in his arm was unbearable, but he had to find the source of what caused it.

A strong wind blew against the window. Danny whipped his head around, but he didn't see a ghost.

He gasped and had to cover his mouth to muffle his scream.

Written on the glass of the window, in glowing green ectoplasm, was:

'_I'VE ALREADY BUILT THE COFFINS, JUST IN CASE YOU WERE PLANNING ON TELLING.'_

He knew exactly who that message was from.

He tried his best to mute his hyperventilation. He shook and tears rolled down his cheeks once more. His attention returned to the pain in his arm, and he slowly and shakily walked over to the mirror.

Flicking on a small lamp on his desk, he looked at his reflection and saw a bloodstain forming on his left sleeve. He cautiously lifted the white fabric off of his arm, shuddering at the fear of what could be the result.

Carved near his left shoulder with a shaky knife, were the words:

'_TELL AND THEY DIE'_

Blood was pouring out of the letters. They were written very fast, with an unsteady hand. It probably took Vlad about two seconds to write both of the messages.

Danny choked out a sob and ripped off his shirt. He wiped away the ectoplasm from the window and threw his soiled shirt in the trash bin. Pulling out the first aid kit he kept under his bed for ghost fighting, he bandaged his arm, shuddering one last time at what was carved into his skin.

He pushed the kit back under the bed and replaced his ruined shirt with a clean one.

It was now 4:01 A.M.

Danny sat with his knees to his chest, staring out the window. He wasn't sure what he felt anymore. He was terrified, upset, tired, and depressed. It was a mixture of these emotions that made him feel like..._nothing._

That's the word; nothing. That's what he was.

He stood up and looked long and hard at himself in the mirror. He wasn't surprised at all to see his ghost half staring back at him. Sometimes, in human form, his ghost half reflected in the mirror. He looked longingly into the green eyes, which looked longingly into his blue ones.

"Why is this happening to me?" Danny whispered to his reflection.

Danny blinked, and his normal human reflection showed in Phantom's place.

"I always knew he was creepy." Danny murmured to the mirror, in a voice that could break someone's heart. "Everyone thinks so." He touched the mirror gently.

"But no one would ever think that he...that he would..." A tear dripped onto the floor.

He hastily wiped the other tears away.

"Even if I could tell them, they wouldn't believe me." Danny whispered. "Everyone thinks I'm just a freaky, dumb little kid. No one would believe me for a moment...and it's not like they could help me anyway."

He sniffled, staring at himself in the mirror once more.

"They're going to find out sometime. I'm a bad liar. I don't even know how I've gotten this far with ghost fighting, considering _my _lying skills." He chuckled humorlessly.

He flopped back down on his bed again, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, wishing there was some way he could tell someone. Anyone..._anything..._

His exhausted eyes wandered the room, until they settled on a stray pencil lying on the desk. After a long moment of thinking, his eyes brightened. He snatched the pencil off of the desk and rummaged through his drawers until he found a few pieces of loose leaf paper.

He smiled, tears clouding his eyes.

And from there, he wrote.

He wrote everything.

Every detail, everything he felt.

He wrote for hours, crying while he wrote, cringing while he wrote, and this just made him write even more.

Was it dangerous? Yes, of course. He knew this too well. He wouldn't let anyone find it.

Would it help? It would keep him from falling too far into the deep pits of insanity, that's for sure.

It was 6:00 A.M. now; his alarm clock would be going off at any second.

Danny clutched the papers to his chest tightly, and walked over to the window. He stared longingly at the sky, watching it turn from a navy blue to a misty magenta. He wished he could still fly around up there, without being scared. He actually missed fighting ghosts...

Wait.

Danny paused.

_When was the last time there was a ghost attack?_

He pondered on this for a moment. The last ghost he fought was the Box Ghost. And that was just moments before Vlad assaulted him for the first time. Since then, ghosts have been scarce.

Do the other ghosts..._know _about what's happening to him?

Are they...scared?

Danny was so lost in thought; he didn't even realize his alarm clock had been going off for ten minutes. Jazz stomped in his room, and he jumped violently, turning the papers in his hands invisible.

"Danny, you're alarm's been going off for ten minutes straight! What are you doing in here?" Jazz demanded.

"Oh, um...sorry...I was just um...watching the sky and uh...catching up on homework..." Danny stuttered.

Jazz stared at him for a long time. She studied his face, looking for answers to her unsolved questions about his emotional state. Finally, she sighed and broke the silence.

"Danny, sit down." She said softly. She set herself gently on the bed and patted her hand against the mattress next to her, signaling him to sit.

Still holding the invisible papers that would reveal _everything, _he awkwardly took a seat next to his sister and tried to avoid her eye contact.

"Danny, there is something wrong with you. It's all over your face. I'm not the only one who's noticed, either. After you told me you were 'fine' last night, I went to my room and called up your friend Sam. I asked her a few questions."

"You called my _friends? _Why are you such stalker?" Danny asked, annoyed.

"I'm not a stalker. And I'm _worried, _Danny. Plus, Sam knows that I know about your ghost half, so I think she felt a tad more comfortable around me. I asked her if she thought you've been a little off lately. I was expecting her to cover for you like she always does, but to my total surprise, she said yes. She said you've been really quiet and paranoid lately. Whenever someone touches you, she said you jump and your eyes get huge."

"There's no way she actually told you this."

"I'm just as surprised as you are; I didn't think she would spill this to me either. But do you know what that means, Danny? It means she's worried too! Tucker's probably worried just as much as we are. Little brother, even _mom _has noticed something. What does that tell you?"

"That you guys are really paranoid about something...?" Danny lied.

"No, it means there's something you're not telling anyone."

"I tell my friends everything. I even come to _you _with my problems sometimes!"

"You're obviously keeping a secret. A big secret; and it's bothering you."

"I'm not keeping a secret."

Jazz took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her long, red hair. She stood up, aspirated, and started walking out.

"You're keeping a secret, we all know it. You can come to us with everything, you know that. We can help you. If you keep this up, I'm talking to our parents about this and they'll get you a therapist. It's your choice." She turned off the alarm and walked out the door.

'_You can't help me, not if your lives are on the line.' _Danny thought.


	7. Let's Play 20 Questions

"Nothing weighs on us as heavily as a secret."

-Jean LaFontaine

CHAPTER SEVEN

A week had gone by since Danny's early morning confrontation with Jazz.

Every day was worse than the last.

He wanted nothing more than to disappear off the face of the Earth.

A few days ago, he was seriously considering it.

Every day, he would lie to everyone, saying that he was fine, that nothing was wrong. Jazz kept a close eye on him, and it wouldn't be long before she found out what was happening. His mother and father were extremely worried. Despite their unawareness of the world around them at most times, Jack and Maddie had noticed a drastic change in their son. They took note to the dark rings under Danny's eyes, his withdrawn posture, his eating habits, and most of all, how _quiet _the boy was.

Sam and Tucker were desperate to know what Danny was holding back. They didn't ask him _if_ there was something bothering him anymore. They _knew _that something was bothering him. And they wanted—no, _needed _to find out what it was. But whenever someone asked him about his well-being, he would answer the exact same way, every single time:

-With an "I'm fine" and a strained smile.

Every night, Vlad harassed and abused the poor boy. And there was nothing Danny could do about it. With the Plasmius Maximus and the death threats on his side, Vlad was unstoppable. Danny wore fleece jackets everywhere now, in order to hide the hickeys and scars—and most of all, the 'TELL AND THEY DIE' carving on Danny's shoulder. It hadn't healed yet, because Danny spent no time in ghost form these days.

There was really no point in going ghost anymore. Ghosts were scarce. Everyone in town is in shock by the lack of ghost attacks. Plus, Danny couldn't outrun Vlad anymore. But most of all, he was afraid to fly.

He was afraid to be seen.

And that's what he was tired of: being afraid.

Daytime was hell. Nighttime was hell.

His life was hell.

As of right now, he is sitting in Mr. Lancer's class. The bell is about to ring. He's thinking of the past couple weeks. His head is down on the desk. He's trying desperately not to scream out loud at the putrid giggling that has been ringing in his ears for the past weeks. He's trying to ignore Sam and Tucker's worried glances. He's actually trying to tune in to what Mr. Lancer is saying; just to put his mind on something else.

He's _trying._

The bell gives an abnormally loud ring, making Danny flinch violently. He silently sweeps out of the room, Sam and Tucker hot on his trail.

"Danny." Sam deadpans.

Jumping, he spun around and gave his friends a sheepish smile.

"Hey guys."

"This is getting old, dude." Tucker said sadly.

"What?"

"You know exactly what, Danny!" Sam exclaimed.

"What's _happening _to you, man? You look like something is eating you from the inside out." Tucker crossed his arms.

'_That's because something IS eating me from the inside out.' _Danny snaps in his mind.

"I told you, ghost fights." Danny shook his head sadly.

"There have been no ghost fights in the past two or three weeks. In fact, we've done some observations. The last ghost was spotted the night before you started acting weird. So basically, ever since they've been scarce, you've been hiding something." Sam said, staring at him.

"That's not true." Danny said as calmly as he could.

"Danny, please, please just tell us what's wrong! We'll listen! We'll help you! We've been talking to Jazz, you know. The three of us have become your observers. And we've come to the conclusion that you need _help._" Sam begged.

"I don't need help!" Danny exclaimed desperately.

"I don't believe that for a goddamn second." Sam placed her hands on her hips.

"Why can't you believe me when I tell you that absolutely _nothing _is wrong?" Danny asked.

"We're not sure what to believe anymore, man." Tucker said.

At that moment, Dash Baxter and his cronies decided it was a good time to mess with their favorite target; none other than Danny.

"Hey Fenturd!" Dash bellowed, grabbing Danny by his fleece collar.

"Oh God..." Tucker sighed.

"Shut up nerd!" Dash exclaimed as he roughly slammed Danny against the lockers. "What's with the fleece, Fentina?" He slammed Danny against the lockers once more.

"Leave him alone, Dash." Sam snarled.

"Tell your girlfriend to get out of here, Fenton. You're so pathetic." Dash said to Danny. "Look at your scrawny little body. You're such a geek. You couldn't even defend yourself if you tried."

_Couldn't defend yourself if you tried..._

_Plasmius Maximus..._

_Nighttime..._

_Vlad..._

And Dash was right.

He couldn't.

Not anymore, anyway.

Danny stared at Dash for a long time, anger building up inside of him, like a volcano on the verge of erupting. His feelings suddenly exploded.

Danny kicked Dash hard in the sorry spot, causing Dash to let go and fall to the ground.

"Can't defend myself? _Can't defend myself?!" _Danny screeched. "Don't even say that! Do you even know who you're talking to?! Shut up, Dash! Just shut up, and get the HELL OUT OF HERE!"

"What's that supposed to mean, Fenturd?!" Dash challenged.

It was official. Danny had cracked.

Split open into a thousand pieces, to be accurate.

Danny kicked Dash again, and slammed him against the lockers. Letting out a long, upset screech, Danny punched Dash in the arm. Sam and Tucker grabbed both of Danny's arms and pinned them behind his back. Sam dragged him out of the scene while Tucker tried to calm Danny down, whispering to him.

"Mr. Fenton! Mr. Baxter!" Lancer bellowed. "Gulliver's Travels, people! What is going on here?"

"Fenton tried to beat Dash up!" Kwan yelled.

Lancer's eyes darted from Danny thrashing and kicking in Sam and Tucker's arms to Dash glaring at Danny. He sighed. Even Lancer was noticing something strange about Danny these days. He had wanted to sit down and talk with the boy for a while now, but Danny always slipped quickly out of the classroom. But today, he was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Are you hurt, Dash?" Lancer asked.

"You really think that scrawny geek could hurt me? Puh-LEASE..." Dash smirked at Danny, which just made the halfa thrash even more.

"Fine, everyone, go to your next class, I'll take it from here. That includes you, Sam and Tucker." Lancer demanded. Soon, everyone departed to their classes, and the halls were almost quiet. Sam and Tucker gave each other a nervous look, but gently let go of Danny's arms. They slowly walked to their next class, looking over their shoulders.

Danny was about to make a run for it, but Lancer grabbed his arm.

"Daniel," Lancer sighed. "I need to speak with you for a moment. Come in the classroom. No one is in there. It's my prep hour."

Danny's eyes darted around nervously, but he silently followed Mr. Lancer into the classroom. Lancer took a seat at his desk and motioned for Danny to pull up a chair.

Once they were settled, Lancer studied Danny for a long moment, watching the way he avoided his eye contact. He watched the way Danny hid his face, the dark rings under his eyes, the unhealthy pale accent of his skin, and how Danny tugged nervously at the neck of his fleece jacket.

"Mister Fenton," Lancer said, "I've personally noticed that you've been a little...not yourself lately. You no longer skip class—which is good, don't get me wrong, but you've been different personality wise."

"W-What are you talking about?" Danny asked, praying that Lancer wouldn't uncover his secret.

"You've been very quiet lately. I believe silent is a better word for it. Whenever something makes the slightest sound, you jump like someone's about to attack you."

"Oh...well, uh..."

"Your friends stare at you nervously during class, like they don't know what's wrong with you either."

"They do? Oh, yeah, that's just a...game we...made up, like, you have to stare at each other during class to make the other person laugh. Ha."

"That was possibly the most terrible lie I have ever heard."

'_You're tellin' me.' _Danny thought.

"I'm not lying though."

"You have no knowledge of this, but about a week ago, I spoke with your sister."

'_Of course you did.'_

"Um...really, you did?"

"She actually came to me. She asked me if I noticed anything strange with you, and I said yes, I did. She said you've been acting very strange at home too."

'_God dammit Jazz.'_

"She's just extremely overprotective."

"I spoke with your parents also. Just a few days ago, after your sister came and talked to me. They told me that they have noticed some changes in you too. What's _wrong,_ Danny? What's bothering you? If you can tell someone, you can get help."

'_IF I TELL YOU THEN YOU WILL DIE.'_

"I don't need help." Danny mumbled.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Look, there's nothing wrong with me! I guess I just haven't been feeling the greatest. In fact, I probably should have stayed home today."

"You didn't look very sick when you were attacking one of your classmates."

"He was threatening me."

"Danny, you're showing all of the signs that someone is threatening you. You're super jumpy. Usually, when Dash messes with you, you say something sarcastic and walk away. But today, you _attacked _him. What is that saying?"

"That he needed to stop...?"

Lancer sighed. "Mister Fenton, please just tell me what's wrong. I can help you."

"I just...I don't need any help, okay? I'm fine, I'm fine, I. Am. Fine."

"I'm going to keep a sharp eye on you, Daniel. When you're ready to talk, I'll be here to listen. But I _will _be talking to your parents again. Understood?"

Danny nodded sadly.

"Good. Well, go on to your next class. I'll write you a pass."

The rest of the day was anxiety-filled torture. He dreaded the final bell. But to his misfortune, it rang, and Danny slowly walked home. A few blocks later, he was at his doorstep, and walked in the door to see both of his parents staring at him with a concerned expression.

"Danny..." Maddie sighed.

"We heard you almost got in a fight today." Jack said disappointedly.

"It was just self-defense." Danny mumbled.

"Danny, we've noticed something in you these days. You're not the same. Everyone thinks so. Your friends are worried sick about you, Jazz is frantic, even Mr. Lancer is really concerned! You've barely been eating, we can tell you haven't been sleeping, what's _wrong, _honey? Please tell us!" Maddie begged.

"Mom, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine." Danny sighed.

"Son, you've been saying that, but you're lying. We can see it. We just want to help you." Jack said desperately.

"No! I'm fine!" Danny snapped.

Maddie sighed sadly. She looked at Jack. "Then it looks like we have no choice."

"What?" Danny asked nervously.

"Son..." Jack sighed. "We're going to get you a psychologist."


	8. Who'ya Gonna Call? SecretBusters!

"Fear, which is protected by silence, and when infiltrated, ends up being defended by lies."

-Nishan Panwar

CHAPTER EIGHT

Just a few hours after Jack and Maddie announced that Danny would be seeing a psychologist; Vlad was going at it again. Last week, the deranged man had started snatching Danny from his room and dragging him outside to harass the kid. The young halfa couldn't hide.

"Get _off _of me!" Danny screamed as loud as he could. Gathering up as much strength as he could, he kicked Vlad's stomach with all his might. Vlad sneered at him, and pinned Danny to a nearby tree. But hey, at least he was off of him.

"Don't. _Touch. _Me." Danny snarled. Vlad just laughed.

"You've surprised me, little badger. I didn't think you had any fight left in you. Well, perhaps not _physically, _but your sarcastic mouth is unfortunately still there." Vlad smirked.

"You're sick." Danny spat. "You're insane! Just leave me alone!"

"Oh, but why?" Vlad asked, fake concerned.

Ignoring this, Danny kept going. "Leave me and my family alone! Just rot in hell you IDIOT! And where are all the ghosts? Why are they nowhere to be seen?!"

Vlad slammed Danny hard against the tree. "Speak to me like that again, and I'll kill everyone in this town. Got it? As for the ghosts, you worthless pest, their lack of coming to Amity is for me to know, and for you to never find out."

"I hate you." Danny squeaked, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"Listen, boy." Vlad snapped, gripping Danny tighter, "People are starting to realize that you're hiding something. You know what that means? It means you're not doing a damn well enough job of convincing people that nothing is going on. I know that your parents are getting you a psychologist. If you say as much of a single _word _to that doctor, I'll strap you to a chair and make you _watch _your loved one's deaths. Whatever that psychologist asks you, you will be silent. Do you understand me?"

Danny nodded his head, on the verge of sobbing.

"Excellent. Now get the hell out of here."

Danny sprinted home, crying almost hysterically the entire way. His parents thought he was still in his room, so he could climb up the house and crawl through the window. With much struggle, he made his way up the side of Fenton Works and slid through the cracked open window. He collapsed on his bed, wanting nothing more of the world than to let him die.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker paced around Sam's bedroom; searching their minds for the answer to the question they'd been dying to figure out for weeks: why Danny was acting so strange and reserved.

"I don't even know what to do anymore!" Sam exclaimed, frustrated. "He just denies and denies and denies...he tries to pretend that nothing's wrong with him!"

"He knows that we know that something's wrong with him. It's like he gets scared whenever we try to put clues together." Tucker concluded.

"I feel like he's scared at the fact that we're trying to help him. Do you think that's just the whole hero nonsense getting to his head?"

"I don't know!" Tucker said, aspirated. "Try to remember exactly what he's been acting like. I'll write it down." He grabbed a notebook and pencil off of Sam's desk.

Making herself comfortable in her dark purple beanbag, she began contemplating on her best friend's behavior. "Alright, well, he's been like super jumpy. Whenever he hears the slightest sound, he goes into semi-defense mode."

"Agreed, keep going." Tucker said, scribbling down Sam's words.

"And he looks like he hasn't slept in forever! You could carry groceries in the bags under his eyes. He's super pale, he's gotten even skinner, and he's basically mute."

Finishing up writing, Tucker sighed and threw his head back. "I'm just trying to think...I mean; he started acting weird the morning after the last ghost attack."

"What's up with that, anyway? Where _are _all the ghosts?"

"Plus, you would think that would make Danny's life easier! With no ghost attacks, he could be enjoying his life, but it's like his life has gotten worse since they've left!" Tucker pondered.

"That is really strange..." Sam glanced to her window.

"Do you think he's upset that they're gone?"

"Use your head, Tucker! We need to think even further into this. What happened to all the ghosts?"

"Screw the ghosts; I'm sure Danny had his hands full a few weeks ago with Vlad coming over his house every day."

Sam bit on her fingernail, but then realization slowly dawned upon her.

"Tucker...what if it's Vlad?"

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"Danny started acting weird the very first day Vlad starting visiting his family."

"I...think you might have a point." Tucker pondered.

"Maybe Vlad is hurting him or something? Or threatening to hurt him?" Sam thought. "And we never once asked him if he was in danger..."

"Well, Jazz told me that they were taking him to the psychologist tomorrow. Hopefully they'll get him back to normal."

"Hopefully..." Sam murmured.

"I miss him." Tucker almost whispered.

"Me too..."

* * *

Back at the Fenton household, Danny paced around his room, clutching head tightly, and mumbling to himself.

"They'll find out. They'll find out. They're going to die." He chanted. If anyone could find out what was going on with him, it was a psychologist. In other words;

Danny was screwed.

He swerved around and stared at himself in the mirror. His ghost's half's reflection was staring back at him again. Phantom had a smirk plastered on his face, which caused Danny to jump.

"You're going crazy." Phantom whispered.

"What do you mean?" Danny whispered back.

Phantom rolled his eyes. "You're going crazy because you're having a conversation with me, and _I'm you. _You're delusional."

"I'm not delusional!"

"Really, then explain why you see me making my _own _movements, when I'm your reflection."

"Well-"

"You're hallucinating. We're not two different people."

"Oh."

"Look around, Danny. What do you see?" Phantom half-smiled at him.

Danny turned and gaped at the sights that met his eyes. The walls were moving. Everything was rainbow colored. He thought he heard screams in the distance. He held his head tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.

"See?" Phantom murmured. "You're going insane."

"But...why?"

"Easy. It's because he broke you. Shattered your emotions, increased your anxiety by two hundred percent, and made you keep some pretty bad secrets. You're just pieces of broken glass now."

"How do I get back to normal?" Danny asked the hallucination.

"C'mon, Danny," Phantom rolled his eyes. "Think of something. You usually always know what to do."

Phantom suddenly disappeared, and all the hallucinations that attacked Danny's mind dissipated away. Danny gasped and held his stomach.

"Danny?" Someone from the doorway asked.

His head snapped towards the door, pure terror filling his face. His entire family stood in his doorway, staring at him with horrified expressions.

"Y-Yeah?" Danny stuttered.

"You've been talking to yourself for fifteen minutes." Jack said, frightened.

"Oh...I was?"

"I think you were hallucinating." Maddie murmured, walking into the room.

"N-No, I'm fine."

"Danny." Jazz said softly. "Please tell us what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

"Oh son..." Jack sighed.

The Fenton family was silent for a long moment. His sister studied him. His parents stared into his face longingly. He let his head droop down.

"We'll help you!" Maddie suddenly exclaimed. "Please, honey! Please tell us!"

"Mom..."

"You need help, Danny! I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to tell someone! I didn't think it would get this bad! You're delusional, Danny!" Maddie cried.

"You're skipping school tomorrow." Jack said sadly. "You'll be at the psychologist's almost all day. The doctor is really nice. I'm sure you'll like him. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Then they slowly walked back into their bedrooms, leaving Danny to drown in his own insanity.


	9. A Breakdown a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

"The real secrets are not the ones I tell."

-Mason Cooley

CHAPTER NINE

After much arguing, whining, denying, and even screaming, Jack and Maddie Fenton had finally gotten their son in the Fenton RV. They were baffled and frightened at Danny's drastic change in behavior. Their usually kind, shy little boy had become a depressed, jumpy, screaming ball of insanity overnight.

Maddie tried her best to drown out her worries by focusing solely on driving. Jack stared straight ahead, glancing back at his son nervously from time to time. Jazz remained at home. She insisted that they should let _her _be Danny's psychologist. Both parents denied immediately. They loved Jazz, and they thought she would make a great psychologist one day, but...

...Danny needed serious, _professional _help right now.

Where _is_ our favorite little halfa, anyway?

Oh, he's just curled up in the backseat, arms around his knees, staring straight ahead with those giant baby blue eyes of his. Those beautiful eyes are filled with so much worry and fright; you would think he had just seen a ghost.

Oh wait, he did.

No wonder the poor kid's so worried. It's because he knows that Vlad Plasmius is sitting invisibly right next to him. The poor thing's ghost sense has been going off for the longest time now.

Not that there's anything he can do about it.

Danny, Danny, Danny. So terrified, so anxious, so upset...

...And _so _ready to give up.

You would've never thought that _this _kid was Danny Phantom, hero of Amity Park.

Maddie pulled into the parking lot of the psychologist's office, and Danny tensed violently. She parked the car, and everyone was silent for a long moment.

"Ready?" Maddie asked quietly.

"I suppose. Are you ready, Danny?" Jack turned to look at his son.

Danny said nothing, eyes staring blankly forward.

They both sighed and opened their doors, and Danny had no choice but to climb out. Vlad chuckled sinisterly.

_"Tell and they die, Daniel." _Vlad whispered, so only Danny could hear.

Danny slammed the door and followed his parents into the building.

Jack pushed open the large glass doors, and ushered Maddie and Danny inside. The waiting room was eerily empty, except for one girl who looked to be about Danny's age. She sat in one of the corner chairs, staring at the ground. There were visible scars blanketing her wrists and forearms. She looked just as hopeless as Danny did.

"Go sit down, honey." Maddie said quietly. "We'll go sign you in."

Danny sat in a seat not too far from where the girl sat. He stared anxiously into his lap, his thoughts zooming around in his head. His hopeless and anxious thoughts were interrupted by a small, but serious voice. Danny jumped in his seat.

"Is this your first time?" The girl asked, slightly lifting her gaze from the ground to Danny.

"Yeah..." Danny replied quietly.

The girl nodded. "What are you in for?"

'_Well, I'm being raped by a ghostly lunatic, but if I tell anyone he'll kill my friends and family. Oh, and I also have ghost powers. You know; the usual.' _Danny snapped in his mind.

"I don't really know." He lied.

The girl almost smiled, her chestnut colored bangs covering her eyes. She self-consciously pulled her sleeves down to cover her scars.

"That's what we all say." She whispered.

Just then, his parents walked back into the waiting room, a tall man with greying hair following behind them.

"Danny, this is Doctor Phillips." Maddie announced, motioning for Danny to stand.

"H-Hi..." Danny said, trying not to whisper.

"Hello, Daniel, I'm Doctor Phillips, but you can call me Alan if you want." The grey-haired man smiled. "Come on in, we'll get started right away. Parents, you can make yourselves comfortable out here."

Doctor Phillips motioned for Danny to follow him. Danny glanced back at the girl, who was staring at him, her eyes sad, but full of wonder. He turned back around and was led through the maze of offices, until Doctor Phillips stopped at the end of the hall and opened the door.

"Take a seat." Doctor Phillips said warmly.

Awkwardly, Danny slid into a chair as Doctor Phillips grabbed a clipboard and plopped down into his chair. He smiled at Danny and crossed his legs.

"So, Daniel, do you have any nicknames, or do you go by Daniel?"

"I go by Danny."

"Alrighty, so how old are you, Danny?"

"Fourteen."

"Ah, and you're in ninth grade, I'm guessing, Casper High?"

"Yeah,"

"Nice. How's school going? Do you have good relationships with your classmates?"

"Um, a small handful..."

'_If you define good relationships as being shoved into trash cans and being laughed at every single day, then yeah, I have GREAT relationships. Oh, and did I mention that I only have two friends?' _He deadpanned in his mind.

Doctor Phillips nodded. "Well, Danny, your parents have told me that they've seen some changes in you lately. Your family and friends agree that you've been very jumpy and depressed lately. What do you think about that?"

"I think they're just a little overprotective...?"

"Hmm, perhaps...but it also looks like you haven't slept well in a while. Are you having sleeping problems?"

"Um, no, I'm fine. I really am."

"Danny," Doctor Phillips looked at him sympathetically. "Every day I talk to people that say they're fine, but I know they're really not. I'm here to help you, not to hurt you. You don't have to keep secrets to yourself."

'_Secrets...'_

'_Secret(s)...'_

'_Remember, Danny? You have more than ONE secret.'_

'_Did you forget that you're Public Ghost Enemy Number One, also?'_

'_Poor little liar.'_

"I'm not a liar..." Danny mumbled inaudibly to himself.

"What was that?"

Danny's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"

"What did you just say?"

"Oh, that was nothing."

Doctor Phillips scribbled on his clipboard for a few minutes, and then stood.

"Alright, Danny, I need to talk to your parents for a moment, so just stay put, okay?" Doctor Phillips smiled.

"Uh...okay..." Danny murmured, and then Doctor Phillips quietly left the room.

Danny groaned and put his face in his hands. He couldn't do this.

'_Got a secret, can you keep it?'_

'_Swear it's this one you'll save.'_

'_Better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to the grave.'_

'_If I show you, then I know you won't tell what I said.'_

'_Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.'_

He was so tired of his subconscious thinking against him like that.

He looked warily at the window, longing for when things were simple. When he used to happily fly around in the sky, when he used to confidently kick ghost's butts, when he and his friends would march around town without a care...

He sighed.

Then his ghost sense went off.

Cold fingers grabbed his neck.

Red eyes pierced through his head.

"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel." Vlad sighed, still invisible. "What are we going to do with you?"

Danny stood and backed up. "What are you doing here?"

"The RV was getting stuffy, and I thought it would be fun to watch this. You didn't _tell _anyone, did you? I would feel sorry for you if you did."

"No." Danny growled. "And why are you still invisible?"

Vlad snickered. "It's fun that way. I think I'll just sit back, relax, and wait for you to crack."

"Just get out of here!" Danny yelled at the invisible Vlad.

A door opened. Someone cleared their throat. Danny turned around slowly.

His parents and Doctor Phillips stared at him.

As they all just witnessed Danny yelling at thin air.


	10. You On Drugs, Boy?

"There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses."

-George Bernard Shaw

CHAPTER TEN

The rest of the day with the psychologist was hell for both Danny, and for the people who were trying to help him. Maddie thought that Doctor Phillips deserved an award for his patience. Even with Danny refusing to talk, Doctor Phillips still unearthed some information about the boy. Every question the doctor asked, every exercise they asked Danny to do, they were met with the same old thing: complete and utter silence.

Knowing the boy wouldn't be doing any talking; the doctor noted and memorized every single characteristic of the boy's behavior. He wrote down everything from the boy's attempt at calming his breathing, his wide-eyed stare, and the fact that he looked..._dead._

Phillips had just sent the family to relax in the waiting room while he came up with some kind of solution. He's had people in his sessions that would barely speak in the past, it was nothing all that new to him, but there was just something..._different _about Danny Fenton.

He searched through his notes, trying to decipher something.

_-Withdrawn posture_

_-Very pale_

_-Dark circles beneath eyes_

_-Very thin_

_-Right leg bounces nervously_

_-Eyes dart around_

_-Doesn't speak_

_-Looks exhausted._

_-Wears fleece jacket...it is 70 degrees outside_

_-Slightly darker patch of skin on his forehead—looks like attempt at covering something w/ make-up_

_-Yelled at air _

So what was Danny Fenton's problem? Alan considered the boy may be using drugs—that would explain his appearance and the fact that he was yelling at something that wasn't there. Or perhaps Danny was in a gang; where they beat him up. But he just seemed too small for something of that nature.

And what was with the fleece jacket? It's warm outside, and that made it pretty humid in the office. So why didn't he take it off? And the concealer on his forehead—was he covering a bruise?

Phillips sat back in his chair and contemplated deeply.

He recalled how the boy seemed afraid to open his mouth.

How whenever he was asked a question, he glanced around the room nervously.

The pure _fear _in his eyes...

A light bulb went off in Doctor Phillip's head.

Danny Fenton was keeping a huge secret.

Most of his patients kept secrets about their depression, or their cutting, or their drug intake.

Not Danny.

His secret seemed to be different, like someone was threatening him.

And he was keeping everyone in the dark about it.

Doctor Phillips quickly stood up and speed-walked into the waiting room.

* * *

Danny was growing annoyed at the way his parents were staring at him. He stared down into his lap and tried to tune out his horrible reality.

'_You lie about EVERYTHING, Danny. Don't you get tired of it? You have so many secrets that are just waiting for you to crack so they can spill out of you. So many terrible, awful, inexcusable secrets...like the fact that you're HALF GHOST—and that's basically a million secrets wrapped up in two words: Danny Phantom. What else is there? I bet you can't even count all of your lies.' _His thoughts taunted him.

'_And you're also hiding that you're being raped...every single day. Damn, your life SUCKS.'_

"Shut up." Danny mumbled inaudibly.

'_Now you're talking to yourself.'_

Danny groaned, but then sighed.

"Mom, can we go home now?" He asked tiredly.

Maddie and Jack seemed just as exhausted.

"Not yet, we have to wait for Doctor Phillips." She replied.

A few minutes later, Doctor Phillips strode in with an aged smile on his face. In his hand he held a container...full of pills.

Danny's eyes widened.

"Hello again," Phillips greeted everyone. "Well, today was somewhat useful for all of us."

Danny shivered. Jack and Maddie looked at the doctor gratefully.

"We haven't uncovered the thing that you're keeping to yourself, Danny," Doctor Phillips smiled sympathetically. "But you scored positive on some of the tests we had you take earlier."

Jack and Maddie exchanged nervous glances.

"Which tests?" Jack asked, worriedly.

"Danny scored positive on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder test, and on the depression test." Phillips stated.

Maddie's mouth fell open. Jack's eyes were filled with concern and fear. Danny held his head in his hands.

"Danny has...post-traumatic stress?" Maddie asked, shocked.

"I'm afraid it's true. But I would like you folks to come back tomorrow. After that, I think we should schedule you for appointments every other day. For tonight, I would like you to take these." Phillips handed Maddie the container full of pills.

Danny shivered violently.

"These are Xanax pills. They're common in treating anxiety disorders like PTSD, GAD, and Panic Disorder. You may have heard about them in commercials before." Doctor Phillips informed Jack and Maddie. "Just take one pill at night and one pill in the morning."

"Alright," Maddie sighed. "So what time should the appointment be tomorrow?"

"Anything after four," Doctor Phillips replied. "And as for the depression, the pills should help with that too."

"Thank you so much, Doctor Phillips." Jack shook his hand.

"My pleasure, please give me a call if anything happens tonight."

"Will do," Jack replied. He turned to his wife and son. "Ready? I'm driving."

"I'm ready. Ready, Danny?" Maddie asked.

Danny nodded sadly.

Then Jack led Maddie and Danny out of the office and into the R.V., Xanax in hand. Once situated in the car, Danny let a tear slide down his cheek before he hid his face with his hair.

As the R.V. took off for the Fenton household, a certain large, vampire-y looking ghost returned to visibility behind a tree. He watched as the large vehicle sped off, and he laughed evilly.

"Oh, this is all only the beginning." He chuckled before disappearing from sight.


	11. Because There Would Be a Piano

"To know that one has a secret is to know half the secret itself."

-Henry Ward Beecher

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Danny rolled over in his bed, the sharp pains of his anxiety slightly numbed by the Xanax. He pulled out the lined papers that were filled with all of the evidence; he kept them in between his mattress and box spring for safe keeping. He wrote every day now, he had to staple the papers together because there were so many. There had to be at least twenty pages.

He grabbed his pencil and began today's story.

_Saturday, April 13, 3:06 A.M._

_Today—well, yesterday—was my first psychologist appointment. I knew the day would come. It was horrible. Vlad taunted me pretty much the entire time. When the doctor left the room for a moment, he started mocking me. He made himself invisible to humans, but I could see him, because you know, I'M NOT HUMAN. I yelled at him really loud: "Just get out of here!" And at that moment, my parents and the doctor walked into the room and saw me yelling at the invisible Vlad. They believe that I am crazy now._

_I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression. Mom and Dad were really upset because they didn't know why I had post-traumatic stress. They were also really upset because I am depressed. The doctor gave me some pills to treat them, but I don't think they're going to work if Vlad keeps on doing what he's doing. I hope they don't do the research and realize that the problems I have are connected to rape._

_Sam and Tucker called me last night and asked if I wanted to hang out today—well, later today. I haven't been with them in so long. I miss them so much. I wish I could have my old life back. But they're worried about me too. And by the way they sounded, I feel like this hang-out is just going to be them trying to figure out what's wrong with me. But they can't figure it out! They're going to come over my house. I feel like Jazz will be watching me the entire time._

_Sometimes I don't even know why life's worth living anymore. I've lost the trust of everyone because of the horrible lies I have to tell every day. I'm so sick of lying. I would be better off dead. All the secrets I have to keep are basically killing me mentally...all I would have to do is finish myself off physically._

_Maybe I'll overdose on those pills they gave me._

_I'm gonna think about it._

Danny sighed and slid the papers back underneath his mattress.

Vlad didn't snatch him from his room last night, and Danny knew that he had to be up to something. Would he do something today? Would he find the papers Danny had been writing about?

Even though writing everything down made Danny feel better, the papers were basically his family's tickets to their graves...if Vlad ever found them.

He rolled over and silently got out of bed. He tip-toed to the mirror and noticed a crack in the middle, where his face reflected. Phantom stared back at him, and whispered;

_"It sums you up perfectly, Danny...you're broken."_

He knew that he was hallucinating, but the words were true.

He _was _broken.

From the dead eyes to the sunken skin, the boy staring back at him was broken.

What happened to the confident, cocky boy that flew around Amity Park without a care in the world?

What happened to the happy, carefree ghost kid that defended the town from evil?

What happened to Danny?

He flopped back down onto his bed, and fell in and out of sleep until the Sun gleamed through his window.

* * *

Morning came too quickly. Danny had no motivation to get out of bed. Sam and Tucker were coming at one, so he didn't have to get up right now. He just wanted to hide in the warmth and safety of his blankets...

...For the rest of his life.

He buried himself in a mess of comforters and pillows. For a few hours, it was peaceful. He imagined his old life. The thought of taking it for granted caused a physical ache inside of him. But still, he daydreamed of flying around, kicking ghost's butts with his friends.

Jazz ended the daydream.

"Danny," Jazz shook him. "It's almost noon! Why aren't you out of bed yet?"

"No law against it." Danny mumbled.

"Aren't Sam and Tucker coming at one?"

"Yes."

"Then you need to get up!"

"No."

"You need to take your medicine."

"No."

Jazz groaned. She tried to pull the blankets off, but Danny was stronger than he looked. He slid deeper beneath his comforter.

"Come on little bro," Jazz sighed. "Will you at least look at me?"

Jazz got a glimpse of one exhausted blue eye, but it left as quickly as it came.

"I meant all of you." She said.

Danny groaned and jumped up from his bed. He forgot he still had his clothes and shoes on from the day before.

"Why are you still dressed?"

"No law _against _it." He hissed. Danny started walking out the door. Jazz spun him around and looked into his eyes.

"Why won't you tell us anything, Danny?" She asked quietly. As his sister held his shoulders, his glare disappeared and a sorrowful look crossed his features. Finally, he whispered;

"To protect you."

And he walked out without another word.

* * *

Jazz had to practically force him to eat some breakfast. After about fifteen minutes of arguing, Danny had finally agreed to take his pills.

One o' clock came, and Sam and Tucker knocked on the door. Danny was lying on the couch, pretending to watch T.V.

"Danny, your friends are here!" Jazz yelled. Before he could yell back something, Jazz whispered something to Sam and Tucker.

"If you guys find out anything, please let us know."

Sam and Tucker nodded, and then walked in the living room.

"Hey dude." Tucker said.

Danny gave them a weak smile and sat up. "Hey guys."

They took a seat.

"So, we heard you like, went to the psychologist yesterday..." Sam said, playing with the zipper on her hoodie.

"How did it go?" Tucker asked.

"It was...fine. I just—um, I didn't think I really needed to go..." Danny murmured.

'_LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR,'_

"Hmm..." Tucker mumbled.

"Oh, and uh, what's up with the ghosts? I haven't seen them around at all." Sam questioned suspiciously.

"I actually have no idea." Danny laughed weakly. "It's really weird. Maybe they've learned their lesson...?"

"Yeah, maybe...so, what have you been doing now that the ghosts are gone?" Tucker raised an eyebrow.

'_SHIT.'_

"...studying...?" Danny asked in a small voice.

'_NICE ONE, FENTON.'_

Sam threw her head back. Tucker groaned.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Dude, something's wrong with you, and we know what it is." Tucker said.

'_Screwed, screwed, SCREWED...'_

"Ugh! Nothing's wrong with me!"

"Yes there is." Sam stared at him.

Before Danny could say something in return, two piercing red eyes floated right above Sam and Tucker's heads. Danny knew instantly who they belonged to.

Danny tried to choke down his ghost sense. Holding it back caused him to shiver violently.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

Then, Vlad's fanged teeth showed, and they grinned sinisterly at him.

Danny bit back a scream.

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other, but then tried to talk to their friend again.

"Anyway...we think it may have something to do with..." Sam started, looking at Tucker.

Vlad's grin widened.

"...Vlad." Tucker finished.

All of the blood drained from Danny's face.

"W-What are you guys t-talking about?" Danny asked, trying not to hyperventilate.

Suddenly, two knives were floating in the air.

One above Sam's head; and the other above Tucker's head...

Danny gasped and shoved his friends out of the way. They crashed into the wall. The knives disappeared, and Danny swore he heard a laugh. He began shaking; his eyes were wide with fear.

"What the heck was that, Danny?!" Sam demanded. She and Tucker brushed off her clothes.

"I was just trying to move you out of the way!" He yelled.

"Out of the way of _what...?_" Tucker yelled, aspirated.

Danny knew he had said too much.

"Um, away from the piano..." Danny mumbled.

'_IS THERE AN AWARD FOR BEING THE WORST LIAR IN HISTORY?'_

"Forget it, Danny." Sam threw her hands up. "Just call us when you stop being so...like this."

Then they marched out the front door.

With tears clouding his eyes, he ran up to his room and threw himself on the bed.

A voice whispered in his ear.

_"This isn't over." _It said.

We all know who the voice belonged to.


	12. I Want to Play a Game

"There are no secrets that time does not reveal."

-Jean Racine

CHAPTER TWELVE

"You know, Daniel, I originally thought that I could count on you for keeping our little secret intact. But apparently, I was wrong." Vlad said, smirking at Danny.

All Danny could do was glare at him, for his hands were bound and his mouth was taped shut.

After the little get-together with Sam and Tucker earlier today, Vlad had once again snatched him from his room. He harassed and abused poor Danny once more, only this time, Vlad didn't want to hear any sounds coming from the boy, which explained the tape and bounds.

"You _should _be able to keep secrets very well, considering all the other pretty little secrets you have swirling in that head of yours." Vlad chuckled. "I'll bet you need way more than ten fingers to count them all."

Danny closed his eyes and let his hair fall in front of his face.

"And you're only fourteen years old. It's quite a shame." Vlad said, fake sorrowful. "But it gives me great pleasure to mock you with it. Where do I even start? How about with that psychologist of yours? That was just about hysterical to watch. You looked like an imbecile. The way you stuttered and couldn't answer...I gave myself a pat on the back for that one. Oh, and the pills! You have to take _pills _for _post-traumatic stress! _ And—and depression! Oh, that was rich!" Vlad was laughing so hard, he wiped a tear from his eye.

Danny tried to hold the tears back, but he couldn't. They cascaded down his cheeks and over the duct tape, falling on the grass like silver diamonds.

Vlad noticed Danny was crying and slapped him hard across the face.

"Quit that. I'm tired of your worthless tears ruining my happiness." Vlad snapped. "And as for your friends...they know that what you're hiding has something to do with _me. _You better fix that, or _else."_

Danny stared at the tape binding his hands together. Vlad slapped him once again, and then kicked him hard in the stomach.

"Are you listening to me?!" Vlad roared. Tears fell from Danny's eyes again, and Vlad growled with frustration.

"Stop being such a goddamn baby. And I've come up with a little game I want to play with you."

Danny's eyes widened.

"It's called the Clues of Death. Let me put it this way; you are all pawns on my board game of doom. Every time someone finds a detail about the secret, you will have to scramble across the board to get to that person faster than me, so I don't dispose of them. There's no way for _you _to beat the game, but there's a way for you to keep yourself from _losing, _so to speak. You're basically already playing the game, but now that people know something is wrong, the game is _really _getting started. It's quite a fun game, truly. Well, to me it is." Vlad explained, sneering.

Danny shivered with fear.

"I can't wait for the real action to start." Vlad chuckled. He harshly ripped off the duct tape from Danny's mouth, and used an ecto-blast to free his hands. Danny stumbled to his feet and started sprinting away.

"Let the games begin." Vlad laughed.

* * *

Sam and Tucker lounged around sadly in Tucker's living room. They felt awful about what they said to Danny earlier today.

"I feel really bad, Tuck." Sam groaned.

"Me too, I'm just trying to understand _why _he won't tell us." Tucker said.

"Think about it; he practically _flew _us out of the way today, like something was about to attack us."

"Did you see him go all pale before that? His eyes went all huge and he started, like, hyperventilating or something."

"But you know something that's _really _weird? At one point, it looked like he was swallowing something, and then he shivered really badly."

"Yeah, he doesn't even shiver that much when his ghost sense goes off..."

"Wait..." Sam pondered. "What if that _was _his ghost sense?"

"But the blue mist didn't come out of his mouth." Tucker said.

"Maybe he swallowed his ghost sense or something...so we didn't see it?"

"How do you swallow a ghost sense, Sam?"

Sam groaned, irritated. "I don't know! Ask Danny, he did it today! And I know it!"

"Fine," Tucker stated. "Then we have two things certain; Vlad is most likely part of it, and Danny's trying to protect us from something."

"Alright, we can work with that."

* * *

Just a couple blocks away from Tucker's house, Vlad Plasmius floated over a building and chuckled. So, Sam and Tucker had gotten some of the basics down. But they hadn't gotten the whole "Danny is crazy and depressed because he's being raped" part of it. Vlad snickered, knowing that in just a few minutes, Danny's friends would either be dead, or Danny would be scrambling all over town trying to protect them.

Vlad was definitely _not _going to stop harassing and abusing the younger halfa. Even though he already broke the poor boy, now Vlad wanted to see him be crushed into tiny little pieces.

Vlad flew so slowly and so menacingly, it would make a grown man scream. He was heading straight for the Foley household.

Our favorite little hero better hurry up if he wants to see his only friends alive again.

Oh, and there he is now. His powers just came back a little while ago. It felt so foreign to be in ghost form, he hadn't gone ghost in almost two months. His glowing green eyes pierced through the darkness, and he zoomed like a rocket after Vlad. When Plasmius spotted him, he just laughed and went invisible, slowly phasing through Tucker's front door...

Danny was terrified. He willed himself to go faster. He too went invisible, and he phased through the door right after Vlad. The two halfas could see each other, but they were nothing but air to humans.

Sam and Tucker just talked and talked, oblivious to the hell that was about to break loose.

Vlad smirked and pulled a shotgun out of his cape.

Danny gasped and shoved Vlad through the walls, out the back door, and into the forest beyond Tucker's backyard. He grabbed the shotgun and blew it to pieces with an ecto-blast.

"Fine, Daniel, I suppose you still haven't lost yet. But you will. Trust me." Vlad whispered.

Before flying away, Vlad decided to harass one more time before he called it a night.

Poor Danny.


	13. Yay, Our Death Train Tickets!

"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."

-Carlos Ruiz Zafon

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Another day sitting in that dreadful office, trying to tune out the doctor, and trying to keep his mouth shut. It was just another day in hell for Danny Fenton. He was still shaking from last night. His friends were almost murdered. What would have happened if he hadn't gotten there quick enough? He had gotten extremely lucky. His powers had come back literally _right before _Vlad attacked. He wouldn't have that kind of luck next time.

_Next time..._

He shuddered. Sam and Tucker already knew too much. They already figured out that Vlad was behind it. That's basically all the information they needed. They solved half the problem. Now, Danny was frantically trying to hide the other half. _No one _could figure out what was happening.

"Danny?"

He was slapped back into reality. The first things he saw were the soft eyes of Doctor Phillips. Danny figured he must have gone into shock again. But that was a symptom of post-traumatic stress, right?

Danny placed his head in his hands.

"Danny," Doctor Phillips said softly. "It's okay. It's all okay."

Doctor Phillips patted him gently on the shoulder, which Danny jumped violently at.

"I'm sorry." Danny whispered.

Phillips felt deep morose for the poor boy. Every time Danny Fenton walked through his office door, he looked worse than the previous appointments. That's why earlier today, Phillips noted that Danny's problem must have something to do with his family. Jack and Maddie Fenton had quickly agreed to a family therapy session. The boy's sister had agreed to come, too.

On the other hand, Danny was exploding inside. He heard about the family therapy, and he started panicking. Jazz was on to him, and he had nowhere to hide. Last night's event was scarring. Hell, all the events in the past month were scarring. All in all, he was ready to give up.

"Alright, Danny, we're going to bring your parents and sister in so we can all talk. Okay?" Phillips said with a smile.

Danny nodded his head and closed his eyes.

Moments later, he could hear the heavy, uncareful stomps of his father. He heard the petite, tiny footsteps of his mother and sister. Looking up, he met all of their eyes, which was something he felt shameful to do.

"Hi honey." Maddie said, ruffling his hair.

Everyone took their seats, and Doctor Phillips began the session.

"Okie-dokie, now, I just want you all to know that you're safe here. Nothing leaves this room. Everything is confidential. Now who would like to start?" Phillips asked.

"I would." Jazz said. "Danny, we love you, and you know you can tell us anything."

Danny shrunk down in his seat.

"And I've noticed a couple things." Jazz continued. "You've been wearing that fleece jacket all day every day. You look like you haven't slept in weeks."

"We're all ears, son." Jack said softly. "We just want to help you."

'_You can't.' _

"Please Danny; please tell us what's wrong." Maddie murmured.

Suddenly, a burst of anger surged through Danny's body. He stood up, knocking the chair over in the process.

"Why can't you _believe _me when I tell you that _nothing _is _wrong_?" Danny yelled. He didn't know where this anger came from, but it was there, and it needed to come out.

"Something IS wrong, Danny!" Jazz exclaimed desperately, also standing up. "Why can't you just tell us? We can HELP you!"

"No! I don't need your help!" Danny screamed. The sudden flow of emotions was overwhelming.

"Danny, calm down!" Maddie said.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! I can't take this anymore!"

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed, reaching out to touch him.

"Shut up, Jazz!" He screamed.

"Daniel James Fenton!" Maddie yelled, horrified.

Doctor Phillips stood in the corner, wide-eyed.

'_Ha, you really HAVE lost it.'_

Danny grabbed his head and started hyperventilating.

"Calm down, please!" Jack begged.

"You know, Danny, before you started yelling, I was going to point out something!" Jazz yelled. "Sam and Tucker figured this out, too! And we know that ever since Vlad came over, you've been like this! It's Vlad! We don't know what he's doing, but it's about him!"

Danny froze.

"He's making you keep a secret." Jazz whispered.

Danny stared at her, terrified. His hyperventilating sped up, and before he knew it, he was on the ground.

_"He's having a panic attack!"_

_"Danny!"_

And he was quickly met with darkness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker were tired of being left in the dark. They marched over to the Fenton household for one more confrontation to Danny.

"If he doesn't tell us, then I'm done." Tucker stated.

"We can't just give up on him like that, Tuck!" Sam exclaimed.

"What else can we do?"

They reached the Fenton's front steps and knocked on the door. No answer. They knocked again. No answer.

"I'm not giving up that easily." Sam said.

Tucker noticed that the light was on in Danny's room.

"Wanna climb?" He asked.

"You want to break into his house?"

"You said you weren't giving up that easily."

"Fine..." Sam groaned. They climbed up the ledges and bricks, and grunted as they pulled themselves through Danny's open window. Tucker landed face down on Danny's bed.

"I don't think they're home..." Tucker said, listening for sounds in the house. "Did Danny have an appointment today?"

"Let me text Jazz."

Sam texted: _Hey, is Danny at the doctors 2day?_

Moments later, Jazz texted back: _Yea, we're all here for a family therapy session. Danny had a panic attack. Still passed out._

"Oh shit." Sam mumbled.

"What?"

"The whole family is at the psychologist's. Apparently Danny had a panic attack and passed out."

"Yikes. Well, that doesn't stop us from looking for clues, right?" Tucker asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, search his room, see if there's anything that can help us figure out what's wrong with him."

"Isn't it against the law to search someone's space without a warrant?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For cops..."

"Tucker!"

"Look, we either search his room, or Danny never gets better. It's your choice."

"Fine," Sam grunted. "But don't look through his underwear drawer."

"I was going to save that spot for _you _to look." Tucker smirked. Sam replied by slapping him. "Ow! Okay, fine. Let's start."

They searched Danny's room thoroughly, looking for any loose things that might give clues to their friend's distress. Sam looked under his bed, only to find empty Fenton thermoses and a first aid kit. But as she was standing back up, something caught her eye.

Something between his mattress and box spring...

It was sticking out very slightly.

Carefully, she pulled out the object, but then realized there were more...at least twenty.

She held all of them in her hands. They were loose leaf papers, filled with Danny's handwriting.

They were _THE _loose leaf papers.


	14. Someone Play Jaws Music

"The best secrets are the most twisted."

-Sara Shepard

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Danny sighed and closed his eyes as he dabbed a cool washcloth against his forehead. He had come back to his senses a little while ago, and he was still a bit shaken up. Opening his eyes halfway, he saw his mother and father listening intently to Doctor Phillips and Jazz. Danny squeezed his eyes tightly. They _couldn't _find out. Oh, the things that would happen if they did...

"How're you feeling, sweetie?" Maddie asked. Danny met his mother's worried gaze and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine." He murmured, with absolutely no confidence to speak of.

"Do you want any pop? Your father just got some from the vending machine."

"No, that's okay."

"Well, alright then. I'm going to get the okay to leave from Doctor P." Maddie sighed.

Silencing his groan, he rolled his head to the side and stared out the window. After a few minutes, he heard tiny footsteps heading his way.

It was the girl with the scars on her arms from Danny's very first visit to Doctor Phillips' office.

"Oh...uh...hey..." The girl mumbled, looking at the ground.

"H-Hi..." Danny stammered.

"Still going here, huh?"

"Y-Yeah,"

"I heard about your panic attack." She whispered.

Danny sighed. "Yeah..."

"It's okay. That can happen with people who are keeping a big secret."

"S-Secret...?" Danny squeaked.

"Yeah..." She murmured, finally meeting his gaze. "I can tell you have one. And I think I know what it is."

"W-What...? I-I don't even know you." Danny was on the verge of panicking.

"Someone you know is going to find out real soon."

"W-What...? I-I-I don't even have a secret...h-how do you even know—"

"I can feel it." She whispered.

Danny just stared at her.

"I never told you my name." She said clearly. "It's Laura. And yours?"

"D-Danny..."

"It's okay, Danny, what happened to you...it happened to me too."

And she just walked away.

Danny was gripping the seat and fidgeting violently.

'_What did she mean?! How does she know...wait, what?! I don't even KNOW her! Is she some kind of psychic?! What the hell is this?!' _The thoughts raced around Danny's mind.

His father's voice pulled him back above the violent ocean of his anxieties.

"Ready to go home, Danny?" Jack asked.

Danny stood up slowly. "Yup..."

As the Fenton family walked towards the car, Jazz never dropped her gaze from Danny's face. She continued staring at him the entire way home, and honestly, Danny just wanted to disappear. Oh wait, he could. But his parents were in the car...

Jack pulled the Fenton RV into the driveway, and Danny jumped like a spring and raced into the house. Tumbling up the stairs and phasing through his bedroom door, Danny was very much ready to make his daily journal entry.

But he didn't know his two best friends had raided his room just this morning...

Flopping down on his bed, he moved his hand around under his mattress, trying to feel for those sacred loose leaf papers. Strangely, he couldn't feel anything. He always left them near the end of his bed...right?

He continued searching. But he still felt nothing. He even went intangible and searched every inch of his mattress.

Nothing.

Panicking, he dashed around his room, frantically searching for those papers. No matter where he looked, they were nowhere to be found.

"No..." He gasped.

A breeze brushed against Danny's hair. Slowly, he turned his head to the window.

The window was cracked open so a person could fit through it perfectly.

There was a large mark on his nightstand...like someone had quickly shuffled through it. Danny identified the mark to be black nail polish.

'_SAM WEARS BLACK NAIL POLISH' _Danny's subconscious screamed.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, _NO..._" Danny's voice was cracked and frightened.

He looked at the mirror, where he saw Phantom staring back at him sorrowfully.

_"They know." _He whispered.

* * *

Just a couple blocks away, where the wealthy families lived, a girl in all black and a geeky looking boy stared at each other, mouths agape, fear coursing through their veins.

In the goth girl's hands were twenty pieces of loose leaf paper, which were filled with tales of the most twisted stories the teenagers had ever read.

The fact that this was their best friend's handwriting made it even more disturbing.

After a long, long while of silence, Tucker finally spoke.

"What are we going to do?" He whispered; his voice cracking.

Sam was quiet for a long moment. "I-We...we can't tell anyone, Tucker."

"He's going to notice his papers are gone."

"I know." She murmured.

"So that's just it, then? We have to keep this nasty secret...and this will keep happening to him?"

"I don't know, Tuck."

"Sam...We can't just _sit _here and wait...he wants to commit...suicide...because of this..."

"I don't like this any more than you do."

"We're terrible friends."

"We're terrible people."

* * *

Outside the window, our antagonist floats invisibly, a wide grin spread across his face.

"Playtime." He chuckled.


	15. I CAN'T HEAR YOU

"The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isn't one."

-Margaret Atwood

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Hey, at least he tried.

Danny fought a long, tough battle trying to keep that secret.

But...he failed.

Oopsy-daisy...

Now everyone he loves is going to die a bloody death, and it's his fault...kind of. Yikes. That really, really sucks. But hey, what can he do? He's going head to head with an extremely powerful ghost who basically ruined his life and well-being, _and _he could kill everyone with a snap of a finger.

And look, he's going to!

Jeez, Vlad, why can't you give the poor kid a break? He's only fourteen, after all. Poor Danny...he already has so many things on his plate. But then the V-Man walks in and decides to be this threatening rapist asshole. Tsk, tsk!

Oh well, life's a bitch. What're you gonna do, right?

Danny, Danny, Danny. You're the superhero, for crying out loud. You save people's lives on a daily basis, and this is what you get in return? You get physically and mentally raped daily, you have to lie to _everyone _about _everything, _you look like you're dead (and you pretty much are already), _and _your loved ones lives rest on your shoulders. You always get the short end of the stick, don't you?

Well, our favorite little halfa is pretty panicked right about now, considering he just realized his friends know about his little situation...and that they've got...what, like three minutes to live?

Can Danny get to them on time? What if he doesn't? Gasp! Come on, little Dannykins, you can do it...

Or can you?

"They have the papers," Danny panted to himself as he paced around the room, clutching his head. "They have the papers. They have them. Oh God, oh God, oh _God _no..."

"Hey!" Yelled a voice from behind him, which was very similar to his own.

Terrified, Danny jumped and spun around towards the voice. Luckily, there was no one there, just that sorrowful reflection of himself as Phantom in the broken mirror.

"Y-You're not real." Danny whispered to his reflection. "I'm just crazy."

Phantom rolled his eyes. "So what you're saying is that you _don't _have a ghost half? That you _aren't _a superhero? Come on, Danny. Yes, talking to yourself means you're pretty messed up, but you can see me in the mirror whether you have panic-brain or not."

"Yeah b-but...why am I talking to myself...t-that's messed up!" Danny cried.

Phantom looked at him seriously. "Crazy or not, Danny, you really need to listen to your own conscience right now. And you hallucinating the other half of yourself is the only way to get you to do that."

"But my friends—"

Phantom put his hand up to stop him. "You need to listen. Yes, it's true. We are in a terrible situation right now. Despite our mental and physical state, we really need to focus. When's the last time we went ghost, Danny, besides the first Sam and Tucker situation?"

"There have been no ghosts!"

"You can't act like you don't know why there aren't any ghosts. You know exactly why. It's because they found out what Vlad is doing, and they're watching us in front row seats. They find it interesting. Do we _want _them to make a mockery of us?"

"N-No..."

"Stop it!" Phantom demanded. "Stop with that stutter. It's a perfect example of our lack of confidence. Remember when we used to be confident and happy, Danny? Wasn't it great? We were confident because we knew we could do great things. And you know what? We can _still do _great things, Danny!"

"B-But—"

"Vlad may have broken us, but it's time to get the broom and sweep up the pieces. We need to glue ourselves back together. And the way to do that is to be focused. We need to be focused and determined in order to save everyone. We need to be that cocky ghost kid that flies around Amity and defeats evil without a care. We need to be the kid who defeated the Ghost King. We need to be the kid that stopped an evil future from happening. We need to be Danny Phantom again."

Danny just stared at him.

"Are you Danny Phantom?" His ghost half asked him.

"Y-Yes..."

"I don't believe that. Are you Danny Phantom?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm still not buying that. Are you Danny Phantom?!"

"Yes, for crying out loud!" Danny yelled.

"Come on! Are you Danny Phantom?!"

"Yes!"

"ARE YOU DANNY PHANTOM?!"

"YEAH!"

"AND WHO IS GONNA SAVE THE DAY?!"

"ME!" Danny cried.

"AND WHO ARE YOU?" Phantom screamed.

"I'M DANNY PHANTOM!"

"Now get out there and SAVE THEM!"

"I will!" Danny screamed, adrenaline pumping through his veins. "I'M GOING GHOST!"

T-Shirt and jeans turned to a black hazmat suit.

Dead blue eyes turned to electrified green eyes.

Dark circles disappeared.

Fear drained away.

White hair replaced black.

Danny Phantom was back.

* * *

Back at the Manson residence, Sam and Tucker were still pacing around Sam's bedroom, fearful and confused.

"We can't stay here, Sam! Vlad will—" Tucker whispered.

"We all know what he'll do! Don't talk about it!"

"But Danny—"

"Where are we supposed to go, Tucker? Seriously! We have no weapons, nowhere to hide, and a superhero best friend who is quickly going insane from post-traumatic stress!"

"Oh yes. Poor, poor little Daniel," Said a deep voice from above.

Sam and Tucker froze.

Guess who's comin' for blood, folks?

"Personally, I would be concerned about my own life, instead of some useless excuse of a superhero. But that's just me." Vlad said mockingly.

Sam dared to meet his eyes.

"You're disgusting, Plasmius." She spat.

"Oh, am I? Am I really?" Vlad asked, fake concerned. "Now, now, Samantha, I wouldn't be so snappy. I could make your death even more gruesome than I originally planned."

Tucker shuddered.

"How dare you even lay a _finger _on Danny? Why would you...just...what was even going through your _mind _when you planned all this out?" Sam growled.

"Nothing that concerns you, little miss. You know, this is all a real shame. I knew Daniel was stupid, but I never thought he would be stupid enough to write down _everything _that happened and 'hide' it in such a childish place. I suppose he _is _as big of a moron as his father." Vlad sneered.

"You'll never get away with any of this, Vlad." Tucker finally said.

"Oh, is that so? I'm just going to warn you right now; _Danny Phantom _isn't going to save the day. Not that he ever did before." Vlad scoffed.

Sam grabbed a thermos from under her bed and pointed it at Vlad, but not before he zapped it to ashes right in her hand.

"It was a nice attempt, Samantha. But I'm afraid things have to be this way."

Lifting his hand and charging up some ecto-blasts, he pointed his hand at the teens.

"Three...two...and one..." Vlad chuckled.

The ecto-blast left his hand.

Right before it could slam into Tucker's face, something as fast as lightning shoved them out of the way. No one even saw it coming.

Sam smiled when she saw the flash of silver hair.

"Wow, an ecto-blast. That's pretty sad, Plasmius." A sarcastic voice said.

And there stood our spectral superhero.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Daniel...I must say I'm a bit surprised by your sudden burst of confidence." Vlad snorted.

'_Don't be scared. Don't be scared. Be a hero. Be a hero.'_

"I'm not scared of you, Vlad. And neither are they." Danny said as strongly as he could, trying to fight the panic that was surging through him.

"I can't say I agree with that. I'm just going to start off by stating that you are your father. You are stupid, clumsy, idiotic, and _weak._"

"Am I really?" Danny crossed his arms.

"After all we've been through, Daniel. I thought you would have respected me more."

Sam almost threw up in disgust. Tucker gasped in horror. Danny almost fainted.

"Do not lay a finger on _anyone, _Vlad." Danny tried not to stutter.

"Well then, I suppose since you've ruined my little party here, I'll just have to dispose of your family and save your little friends for last."

"I'll kill you."

"Very well, Daniel. See you in Wisconsin. Oh, and if you come home to an empty house, don't fret. You'll see their bloody bodies very soon."

And out the window he went.


	16. Vlad's a Decent Poet

_Attention everyone! Before we begin, I just want to let everyone know that I changed my pen name. I used to be FreakyDayDreamer, and now I am The Name's Laura. On with the story!_

"You'll keep it on the inside because that's safest place to hide."

-Unknown

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Well folks, before this gets unbearably intense to the point of possible hyperventilation, let's recognize some of our characters for their outstanding attempts at bravery in these past few scenes.

Sam! Dang girl! You've got some serious guts if you just sass-talked your assassin. And nice try with your boyfriend's thermos, there! Oh, and speaking of your boyfriend, can you believe you just let _that _happen to him, right under your nose? For a whole two and a half months?! Sweetie, we know you're still shocked, but you've got to step up your game. Dannykins can't protect you twenty-four/seven anymore.

Oh, Tucker. There's not really much to say to you. But let's all congratulate him on not passing out when he first read those little journal entries his friend wrote. Oh well. Hopefully you've got a strong stomach when it comes to blood, Tuck.

And Danny, my man! Way to use your post-traumatic stress-induced insanity to save your friends. Too bad someone probably heard you screaming _"I'M DANNY PHANTOM!" _to your reflection. Not one of your brightest ideas. But it's not like you're mentally stable right now, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. And can you believe that froot-loop is going to kill your family? You could have prevented that! Stupid human emotions, am I right?!

You had ONE job, Danny.

You only had to keep a _little _secret...

"D-Danny—" Sam started, but then faltered. Danny was staring at the window, shaking, his fingers twitching every second. Obviously, he wasn't better.

This frustrated Sam. She wanted to snap him out of it, and have him miraculously bounce back to normal like he always did in fights.

But then, she realized, that no human nor ghost could just shake off everything that Danny went through like it was nothing.

Danny was powerful physically and mentally, she knew that better than anyone. But there are some things in this world that even the strongest of people cannot handle.

"What am I going to do?" Danny whispered, staring at the ground. Then his eyebrows furrowed in anger and he shot an ecto-blast through the broken window in frustration. "Why did this have to happen, what did I do to deserve this?!"

"You did nothing." Sam reassured calmly. "He's messed up, Danny. But right now, as much as we want you to be okay again, you need to push yourself beyond your limits to save them."

Tucker placed his hands on Danny's shoulders firmly, and of course, Danny flinched violently.

"Dude, we know what you're going through. We know, and we're so, so sorry...I...we should've paid closer attention." Tucker said.

"I tried to keep you from paying attention because of what almost happened like three times!" Danny cried out of anxiety.

"I know, I know," Tucker said. "But listen, we need to save your family, like, _now. _We need to go after him, Danny. You're obviously in no physically or mentally healthy state right now, but you _need _to push that all aside until we save them."

"We're going to be right next to you every step of the way. We'll protect each other just like we always do. We need to be Team Phantom again, and you, Danny, you need to be the Phantom." Sam murmured.

Danny stared at them for a long moment.

Finally, his subconscious stopped thinking against him.

'_Who's the hero?'_

'_You are.'_

'_Who saved the town millions of times?'_

'_You did.'_

'_Who can do this?'_

'_You can.'_

Danny looked up at his friends with a rare glint of hope in his eyes.

"Here's the plan." Danny said.

* * *

There was no time to thoroughly discuss the plan, but the basics were pretty straightforward.

Go to Fenton Works,

Look for any clues,

Grab as many weapons as you can,

And bolt out the door.

"Has your ghost sense gone off yet?" Sam yelled over the wind, as she was being carried along with Tucker by Danny through the air.

"No, and that worries me." Danny yelled back, increasing his speed.

"No time to be worried! Onward!" Tucker yelled.

"I'm not a horse, Tuck!"

The glowing Fenton Works sign blared in the distance. Increasing his speed, Danny zoomed through the crisp air and phased straight through his bedroom window.

"I hate when you phase through things when you're carrying me!" Tucker complained.

"Shut up, Tucker!" Sam groaned.

"Alright, Sam, you look for clues as to where they went and—" Danny started.

"He said he was going to Wisconsin!" Tucker interrupted. "We're just going to waste time looking for clues!"

"How much do you want to bet he's lying? He messed with my mind for almost three months, and he's sure as hell not going to stop now." Danny replied.

"He's right. I'll look for clues, and you two get as much weapons as you can." Sam said before running off to find clues.

She started in the kitchen. Maybe Vlad left some sort of evidence behind. Like a note, or a net...

But what Sam saw was far, far worse.

On the edge of the countertop, there was a crimson, coppery-smelling substance dripping onto the floor.

_Drip_

_Drop_

_Drip _

_Drop_

Gasping, Sam examined the scene and found a piece of white paper right beside the puddle on the floor.

On the front of the paper, there were blood drops shaped into a perfect heart.

Carefully, she opened it.

_You've come too late,_

_You've sealed their fate,_

_Where are they now?_

_You'll just have to wait._

_Blood on the walls,_

_Blood down the halls,_

_Blood here and there,_

_Blood everywhere._

_You better run,_

_You have to run._

_You know you've been the perfect pawn,_

_But you better find them before they're gone._


	17. Murderific

"Your secret is your prisoner; once you reveal it, you become its slave."

-Ibn Gabirol

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Sam stared down at the little sheet of paper, mouth agape. A powerful emotion she had never felt before sank into every inch of her being.

Pure horror.

You would think, being a goth and all, you'd be able to handle gory situations like this. But not when it's your best friend—and secret love's—family in danger, I guess.

"Danny!" She called. "Danny! Tucker! Get in here!"

A split second later, Danny flew through the wall, about a million weapons in hand. Tucker followed, but decided to take the human way instead.

"What? Did you find something?" Tucker asked, setting the weapons on the table. Danny's breath hitched in his throat when he saw the blood spattered on the tiles.

_'Too bad you didn't get to say a proper goodbye, huh Danny?'_ Great, his subconscious was working against him again.

"No." Danny whispered. "No, oh God, no..."

"Danny." Tucker said as bravely as possible. "Danny, calm down. We won't be able to go any further if you freak out."

"G-Guys...you need to..." Sam stuttered, but then ended up just shoving the paper in Tucker's face and turning away.

Tucker's eyes widened with every line of the little poem. Chills scrambled up his spine, and he slowly handed the paper to Danny.

Taking a deep breath, Danny began reading the lovely little note. Tears clouded his eyes and he threw the paper on the floor, and then burned it to ashes with an ecto-blast.

"We need to go." Danny deadpanned. "Now."

"Danny, we don't know where he is." Sam argued.

"I don't care. We'll go to Wisconsin and the Rockies."

"What if we don't—" Tucker started.

"Make it?" Danny finished. "We _will _make it."

"But-"

"Shut up, Tucker!" Sam exclaimed.

* * *

And so, the scrawny little halfa and his tiny little friends loaded themselves into the Specter Speeder, with only one thing on their minds.

Save Danny's family, and kick Vlad's ass.

Despite their admirable determination, they were all secretly worried. What if Vlad is at neither of his mansions? What if...what if he's doing the same thing to Jazz, and Jack is lying helplessly in chains? What if...they...

What if they were too late?

They all shook the thought out of their heads. It would be okay. Team Phantom could save the day like always...

Right...?

"First stop, Wisconsin." Tucker stated.

Danny floored the gas, and the ghost portal opened. The Specter Speeder zoomed into the ghost zone, and the three began frantically searching for Vlad's portal entrance.

"There's like a million doors in here! How are we supposed to find Vlad's?" Tucker exclaimed.

"You don't remember? It's the one with the giant football in front of it." Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"Doesn't get any more obvious," Danny mumbled. He didn't want to admit it, but he was secretly terrified. He didn't feel like himself. Not that he had in a month in a half, but still. The assaults, the psychologist, school...

...And keeping that terrible secret.

Sam's voice shook Danny out of his thoughts.

"There it is!" She shouted. "That stupid football!"

"I'll go move it." Danny said.

Phasing out of the Speeder, he sped over to the football and threw it out of the way. After a moment of thinking, he blew the football to bits with ecto-blasts.

'_That's for everything.' _He thought.

Danny motioned for Sam and Tucker to follow him into the portal. Quickly and silently, they entered Vlad's portal.

Vlad's lab was even more complex than before. It looked like it had been imported from the year 3000. A giant screen displayed Fenton Works, and Danny shuddered. No wonder Vlad knew what he was up to twenty-four/seven.

_"Let GO!" _A scream was faintly heard from above.

The teenagers froze.

_"Do you hear that, Jazz? I think your baby brother just arrived." _A voice that was obviously Vlad's bounced through the air vents.

Another shriek sounded.

"Jazz?" Danny yelled. "JAZZ?!"

"Come on!" Tucker exclaimed.

Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker, and they flew through the many stories of Vlad's mansion. Danny stopped flying when he heard multiple voices in the parlor.

He set Sam and Tucker down, and then kicked the door down.

What was he met with?

Not what he wanted to see.

Jack and Maddie lay knocked out on the ground.

"How nice of you to join us, _Daniel._"

And there stood Plasmius.

With a knife to his sister's throat.


	18. The Shitmius Maximus

"Some secrets are better left at that—as secrets."

-Candace Bushnell

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Tucker's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. They repeatedly darted from Plasmius to Danny. He was too frozen in shock to even swallow the lump in his throat. He kept his knees locked to keep from fainting right then and there.

Sam couldn't tear her eyes from the knife that was just a push away from killing Jazz Fenton. She felt that if she moved a muscle, Vlad would happily plunge the knife into the redhead's throat. Her mouth hung agape, and her eyes slowly darted over to Danny.

Danny.

Danny, Danny, Danny...

He, on the other hand, was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. His hands were in fists at his sides, as if he were trying to squeeze away the trembling that was about to overwhelm him. Danny's eyes were the biggest of all. They were big, green saucers. His teeth were clenched, and he was so overwhelmed, he thought he would explode. He locked eyes with his sister's. Jazz's eyes were pleading and terrified as she stared back at Danny. But Danny wouldn't dare meet Vlad's eyes...

"So, Daniel, are you just going to continue to stare at her? I personally don't think that will help anything." Vlad sneered, ripping everyone from their thoughts.

"Let her go, Vlad." Danny growled, trying to keep his confidence intact.

"I wish, Daniel, I wish. But you couldn't keep the _simplest _of secrets, my boy. We had a deal." Vlad smirked.

"That wasn't a deal." Danny squeaked. "That was me trying to keep my family and friends safe."

"Ah, and his hero nonsense shines again. But you knew you couldn't do it forever, Danny, you knew that I would win, with no doubt."

"You'll never win, Vlad." Sam growled, taking a step closer.

Vlad narrowed his eyes at her. "One more word, Miss Samantha, and I'll cut her head clean off." He held the knife closer to Jazz's neck, who squeaked in reply.

"Don't!" Danny shouted, forming an ecto-blast in his hand. "Don't or I'll shoot _your _head clean off."

Vlad smirked. "But who would win in that situation? Not you, obviously, because if you threaten me one more time with your cute little powers, Miss Jasmine will have to face the consequence of it."

Danny froze and brought his hand down. He wanted to snap back with a witty remark, but suddenly, his eyes grew wide, with a faraway look to them. He stared forward, shaking slightly.

"Danny?" Tucker whispered.

But Danny wasn't there anymore.

Danny was now engulfed in his post-traumatic stress, trapped in his own mind.

The flashbacks hit him like bullets, bringing him down with every breath.

"_If you tell a single soul about what is happening, then I will have the heads of everyone you love on a platter..."_

"_STOP! Get AWAY from me!"_

"_Please...stop..."_

"_Oh, and speaking of your family, you remember what I told you, correct? Tell anyone, and you'll be looking down at them in their caskets."_

"_NO!"_

Danny shook violently, and Sam and Tucker were terrified. What was going on with him? He had to snap out of whatever kind of funk he was in. Sam started shaking him.

"Danny." She whispered in his ear. "Snap out of it."

"Come on, dude!" Tucker whispered in his other ear.

They couldn't understand what was happening, but then it hit them.

Danny had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress earlier this month.

Sam gasped and started shaking him harder. Danny's wide, unblinking eyes began moving again, and he took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Thanks guys." He whispered.

Danny tore his eyes from his friends' faces and dared to look back to Vlad's face. Vlad laughed darkly and smiled at his enemy's weakness.

"Can't handle a little flashback, Daniel? Well, then you sure as hell won't be able to handle this." Vlad sneered. He walked casually over to Jack and Maddie, who were still unconscious. With Jazz still in his grip, he plunged the knife deeply into Jack's arm.

Danny's father let out an unconscious yelp of agony.

"Stop!" Danny yelled. "Get away from him!"

"Oh, but why? I was just having a little fun."

"Get _away from them._" Danny growled.

"Get our confidence back, did we?" Vlad chuckled. "Well, I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen. If you move as much as an inch, I'll use their limbs for decorations."

Vlad covered Jazz's mouth, and softly sliced the skin from her collarbone all the way up to her chin. Blood trickled out smoothly.

"Isn't blood beautiful, Daniel? I'm sure Miss Samantha likes it most of all."

"Stop!" Danny cried. "Stop hurting her!"

"Oh, you always ruin my fun."

"You better stop, Plasmius." Danny warned.

"And what are _you _going to do? Hit me with one of your scrawny little fists? Face it, Daniel, all you are is a creepy little kid with creepy little powers."

"We're not going down without a fight." Danny stood up straighter.

"A fight is what you want; a fight is what you'll get." Vlad stated. "And in this fight, all hell will break lose."

Vlad turned something visible from behind his back. He held it out for the trio to see.

Sam and Tucker gasped. Danny was frozen in horror.

The Plasmius Maximus.

Vlad smashed the device against Danny's arm and set it to full power. The shocks surged through Danny's body, and he screamed out in pain. He fell to his knees, a dark lock of hair falling in front of his eyes.

'_Dear God no...'_

Vlad smiled and threw the device to the side.

"Let's see how well you can fight now."


	19. You Expose Me, I Expose You

"Once exposed, a secret loses all its power."

-Ann Aguirre

CHAPTER NINETEEN

_Let's see how well you can fight now..._

Danny, who was still on the ground panting for breath, stared down at his hands with wide eyes.

No gloves,

No suit,

No aural glow.

_Human._

Three hours, no powers.

And Vlad wasn't going to wait until little Dannykins got his powers back to finish his throat-slicing game.

Powers or not, Danny still had to take him down.

Either that or he would have to die trying.

It was now or never.

Danny slowly pushed himself to his feet, and with every bit of confidence he still had lingering around, he glared into the face of the devil himself. Vlad cackled hysterically.

"_Really _Daniel?" He guffawed. "You're _honestly _going to get up and _fight me_? As a _human_? You're barely a threat to me _with _your powers. But _without _your powers, all I would have to do is _step _on you, dear boy. I do admire your courage, though, especially with all that's happened."

"He's not fighting this alone." Sam growled, now standing at Danny's side.

Vlad laughed again, and Jazz thrashed hysterically in his grasp.

"That's quite adorable; lovebirds fighting side by side. You two are quite the pair—a prepubescent abnormality of nature and an uncanny gothic oddity. Ah, young love."

"Says the single cat-lover in his forties." Danny shot back.

Vlad snarled and grazed the knife across Jazz's lips, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and whimper.

"If you would like to keep mouthing off, Daniel, I'll gladly chop her limbs right off." Vlad growled.

"Don't. _Hurt. _Her." Danny hissed.

Tucker joined his friends and stood on the other side of Danny. "Cut the crap, Plasmius. Let her _go._"

Vlad looked amused. "Well, well, well, the techno-geek finally gets some confidence. However, I don't have time for this. Daniel broke the deal; therefore, he's going to _watch _as the life drains from all of your pathetic faces."

"I don't think so." Danny deadpanned. He quickly charged up an ecto-gun and pointed it at Vlad's forehead. The shot fired, but Vlad put up an ecto-shield to halt the blast.

"Feeble attempt," Vlad fake yawned. "But on the other hand, I want your parents to see how weak you are before they take their last breaths."

With two simple shots at his parent's forearms, their eyes immediately snapped open. They sprung to their feet and tried to recall where they were.

And the first things they saw were their daughter with a knife to her face, and their son standing nearby with Sam and Tucker, ecto-guns in each of their hands.

"Jazz! Danny!" Maddie screamed.

"Let go of her, ghost! And leave those kids alone!" Jack bellowed.

Vlad cackled. "But why? The fun part was just starting."

Plasmius willed five duplicates. Each of them chuckled darkly. Two sprang for Jack and Maddie, pinning their arms behind their backs. Another two sprang for Sam and Tucker, also restricting them from any movement. The original Vlad threw Jazz to the ground, and the fifth duplicate pulled her up and did the same as the other duplicates had.

Leaving Danny standing face to face with his nightmare, and all of his loved ones helplessly watching him from where they were held.

"Do not lay a hand on my son, or so help me I will-" Maddie demanded, but was interrupted.

"Shh, Madeline," Vlad hissed creepily. "Sit back, relax, and watch. I have a few things to show you."

Danny knew there was nowhere to run, no powers to use, and no one to help him. He took a step backwards. He almost had his hands on an ecto-gun, but Vlad shot it away.

"Now, now, Daniel, we need to get a few things straightened out before you attempt to fight." Vlad chuckled.

"What _kind _of things?" Danny challenged.

"You'll see." He hissed. Then, he straightened his back, and faced Jack and Maddie. "Jack, Madeline, you're familiar with the popular ghost 'superhero', Danny Phantom, am I correct?"

Danny was suddenly hyperaware of what Vlad was about to do.

"Don't listen to him!" Danny yelled to his parents. Vlad continued on anyway.

"Anyways, and you're constantly wondering where little Daniel is running off to all the time, is that right? Always skipping school, skipping meals, skipping homework, and you don't know why. Well, let me give you a little hint here. Isn't it strange, that when 'Danny Phantom' shows up for his usual nonsense, Danny Fenton is nowhere to be seen? And when Danny Fenton is in sight, Danny Phantom isn't present fighting ghosts?" Vlad paced back and forth mockingly.

"I suppose that is a bit strange, but what does that have to do with-" Jack pondered.

"Please, Jack, questions later." Vlad interrupted. "Now, have you ever pondered on the fact that Danny _Fenton _sounds an awful like Danny _Phantom_?"

Danny couldn't let this happen. If Vlad was going to expose him, then he was going to—

"Vlad Plasmius is Vlad Masters!" Danny shouted.

The room went silent. Everyone stared from Plasmius to Danny, and Vlad slowly turned to face the younger halfa.

Vlad's eyes were a bright, satanic shade of red, and they glared daggers at Danny.

"If you're going to expose me," Danny hissed pointedly at Vlad. "Then I'm going to expose _you._"

Danny stood up tall, and faced his parents. "Plasmius has been half-ghost for twenty years. It all happened when-"

"Shut up, you brat!" Vlad growled, and he lifted Danny by his shirt collar, and then smashed him to the ground. Let's remember that poor Danny doesn't have his powers to defend himself, folks.

"Stop hurting him!" Maddie demanded.

"Fine, Maddie, fine, but at least let me explain." Vlad said, amused.

Danny quickly got up from the ground and glared at the older halfa.

"Vlad Masters, your old college _'friend'_, is this ghost right here. He's half ghost." Danny said.

"Fine then, Daniel, have it your way." Vlad cleared his throat. He too turned to Jack and Maddie. "And your son, he's Danny Phantom. Half ghost. Your son is Public Ghost Enemy Number One."

Realization slowly dawned upon the Fentons.

"But-"

"Now, now, and you're probably wondering what has been causing your _baby boy _so much distress in the past month or so."

"No!" Danny shouted. "And you know, Vlad, it'll be worse for _you _if you tell."

"Oh, well I suppose I can't read aloud then." Vlad said, fake-concerned.

The twenty pieces of loose leaf paper showed up in his hands, and Vlad smirked. He tossed the papers to the duplicates holding Jack and Maddie.

And his parents were gone.

"Reading helps you learn, they always say."


	20. Round of Applause for Skulker

"The most honest words are the ones that will never leave your mouth."

-Unknown

CHAPTER TWENTY

"What did you _do with them_?" Danny hissed.

Vlad smiled a dangerous, ballistic smile and walked slowly over to Danny, his shoes clicking against the floorboards.

"Nowhere in particular," Vlad replied, as if this was a normal conversation subject. "They needed a nice, interesting place to read your lovely notes. So I sent them into the Ghost Zone."

"Why...why on _Earth _would you send them into the _Ghost Zone_...you _moron?"_

Vlad shot an ecto-blast straight at Danny; who yelped in response.

"_I_ am not the moron here, Daniel. The only moron in this room is you. You could have kept your family safe. You could have protected your friends. But instead, you decided to write down just about every detail of the secret. Way to go. Apparently you have more of Jack Fenton in you than I thought."

"_Stop _it, Vlad." Jazz finally said.

Vlad held his hand up to stop her. He turned to Sam and Tucker, who were still held by the duplicates.

"I promised death sentences, and I always keep my promises." Vlad smirked. "Shall we get started? Who do we start with, Samantha or Tucker?"

Danny threw himself between Vlad and his friends.

"Don't _touch _them." Danny growled.

"Get out of the way, Daniel."

"Don't tell me what to do. Don't. _Touch. Them._"

Vlad snarled, and then lifted Danny roughly by his shirt collar.

"I have had _enough _of your meddling." Vlad hissed in his ear. "Their funerals could have been over and done with by now, but _you're _in the way. You are _always _in the way. Even in my everyday life, I cannot complete the tasks in which _I _want to complete, because _you _always get in the way. You and your childish _hero nonsense..._sucking a few ghosts into a _soup thermos _does not make you a superhero, Daniel."

"Then what is _your _definition of a hero, Vlad?" Danny challenged, but then pointed to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. "_We _four are the greatest heroes you will ever know."

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz's faces brightened.

Sam's face lit up most of all.

They'd never thought of themselves as heroes before.

"We protect Amity Park _every single day_. We sacrifice _everything _in order to keep that town safe. You will never, ever understand what it means to be a hero, Vlad." Danny said, standing tall.

Sam could feel herself blushing.

Vlad was not impressed. "Really, _heroics _are what you refer to those _antics_ as? All you've done in your 'heroics career' is place yourself in a race where there is no finish line. You're just wearing yourself out on a treadmill that is eventually going to break down. You _think _you're being a hero, but in reality, no one in that town would give a damn about whether you're there or not. Your life is not a comic book, Daniel, no matter how much you want to think it is."

"That's _not true._"

"I've had enough of this!" Vlad declared. He willed another duplicate, and it pinned Danny's arms behind his back.

"Let go!"

"Why can't you accept that you've _lost_, Daniel?" Vlad shouted, charging up an ecto-blast and aiming it at Sam's forehead. "_You've _lost, and _I've _won! Now you'll sit and watch as they die the bloodiest deaths imaginable!"

"No!"

Vlad drew back his arm and prepared to fire. But right before the blast left his hand, a deep voice that both Danny and Vlad knew well was heard from the other side of the room.

"Is this a bad time?"

The room went silent. Vlad growled with anger and snapped his head towards the voice.

"Skulker," Vlad thundered. "Did I authorize you to enter?!"

Skulker's eyes darted back and forth from Danny and his friends' terrified faces to Vlad's satanic scowl.

"I was just delivering these parts for _your _lab equipment." Skulker replied. "God forbid you can't get them yourself."

"Well, you've delivered them. Now leave. As you can see, I'm quite busy at the moment." Vlad shooed him away, but Skulker floated closer.

"Wait, why isn't the Ghost Child fighting?" Skulker asked, looking at Danny.

"This is none of your business, Skulker. Now leave before I blast you to bits!" Vlad demanded.

"You may be my boss, but boss or not, I'm not letting you kill the Ghost Child. That's _my _job! Do you have any idea how many upgrades I've gotten so _I_ could eliminate him successfully?"

"Do you have cotton in your ears? Get out! This is none of your business!" Vlad bellowed, launching a blast at Skulker.

Skulker dodged the blast. "If the Ghost Child isn't alive, how am I supposed to hunt him? I am the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and I demand that _I _be the one to hang his pelt on my wall!"

"Oh, please! You couldn't catch a ghost to save your afterlife!"

"I've caught thousands of ghosts!"

"Listen, you no-good son of a—"

As Vlad and Skulker argued, Danny eyed an ecto-gun on the floor, a little ways away from Tucker's foot.

Silently, Danny tried to get his friends' and sister's attention. As their eyes darted, they finally met Danny's huge blue orbs, and he made his eyes dart towards the gun and back to Tucker.

Realization washed over Tucker's features, and soundlessly, he inched his foot over to the gun. Everyone checked frequently to make sure the duplicates had no idea of what was happening.

Tucker's foot touched the gun, and he slid it over to Danny. Vlad and Skulker were arguing so loudly and obnoxiously, you could barely hear anything else in the room. The gun touched Danny's foot, and he tried to angle it in between his legs, so the blast would hit the duplicate in the behind.

'_Here goes everything.' _Danny thought.

His shoe found the button, and he pressed it. The blast hit the duplicate's leg dead on.

The duplicate didn't even make a noise as it disintegrated. Danny quickly looked over at Vlad and Skulker, who still didn't notice anything.

Now free, Danny smiled and shot the other duplicates straight in the forehead, and they also wasted away soundlessly.

Danny zipped over to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, and it seemed they already knew what to do.

Get out quietly, and get to the Specter Speeder.

One by one, they carefully backed out of the room. Once in the hallway, they bolted for the stairs, and headed down towards the Specter Speeder.

"No one make a noise." Danny whispered.

Without Danny's powers, the task was harder to complete, but not impossible. They descended flight after flight, until they reached Vlad's lab, where the Speeder still floated.

"I'm surprised he hasn't—" Tucker started.

"Shh!"

Danny opened Vlad's portal, and they all dove into the Specter Speeder. Danny floored the gas.

"Okay, I'm not religious, but that was a gift from God." Sam said.

"Let's find Mom and Dad." Jazz demanded. "Now."

* * *

Deep in the Ghost Zone, a couple clad in orange and blue were held captive by a ghost's duplicates, and they were forced to read some sheets of loose leaf paper.

Jack and Maddie Fenton were horrified, disgusted, and most of all, furious.

Furious at their old college friend,

Who had dared to lay a finger on their son.


	21. I Like Hide-and-Seek

"The aspect of secrets is that they leak out. If they didn't leak, they wouldn't be interesting."

-CLAMP

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

It was pure, almost unreal luck. Danny never considered himself a lucky person, but when he and the gang escaped, his lucky stars shined brighter than the Sun. But, we need to remember that this is Danny Fenton, and everything good that happens to him comes with a nasty catch.

Better watch your back, Dannykins.

Everyone in the Specter Speeder was on edge. Vlad could pop out in front of them at any moment, and there would be nothing they could do to stop him. Every time they heard a noise, they jumped. Even with Danny flooring the gas pedal, it wasn't fast enough. Vlad would notice they were gone. Skulker couldn't argue over Danny's pelt forever. Vlad would track them down.

He might even be tracking them down as we speak.

Is the suspense killing you yet?

Anyway, Jazz finally broke the silence that was lingering through the Speeder. "Danny?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah?" Her brother replied.

"What…what exactly happened? I mean, why did Vlad want to—"

Sam noticed Danny tense, and she quickly stopped Jazz from finishing her sentence.

"Let's focus on finding your parents." Sam said calmly.

Jazz nodded solemnly and returned to staring out the window. Really, she didn't understand what was going on. She knew that Vlad had been involved with Danny's sudden strange behavior right from the start, but she still hadn't been told _what _he had done. Obviously, Sam and Tucker knew what was going on. She could see that. But they hadn't known in the beginning! She had invited them over for secret meetings to discuss the fact that no one knew what was going on! Jazz was at a loss.

And she also felt very left out.

"Okay, you know what?" Tucker said, breaking the silence. "We can't just drive around and_ wait _for him to come to us. Where's our game plan? I mean, come on guys, we don't even know where your parents are! We can't keep counting on our luck to save us."

It was true. And everyone knew it, too. Team Phantom always had a plan—either that or the task would be so easy, they could wing it.

But now, they had no plan.

And they definitely couldn't wing it.

"I don't know, Tuck." Danny sighed, swerving the Speeder around a floating rock. "The best we can do is search all around and try to find them. Do you know approximately what time Vlad hit me with the Plasmius Maximus?"

"Was there a clock in that room?" Jazz asked.

"No." Sam sighed. "How are we supposed to—"

"Got it!" Tucker interrupted. "My PDA alarm went off automatically at 5:00 p.m.—that's my evening feeding time. Danny, you were shocked with the Maximus shortly after that…probably about five minutes after, by my estimating. So, I'm guessing your powers will come back around 8:05 or 8:10."

"You're sure?" Sam asked.

"It's an estimate. But I do know that his powers _will _come back shortly after eight. I can't give you an exact time, but I can give you that." Tucker replied.

"What time is it now?" Jazz questioned.

"6:50. If we can avoid Vlad for _approximately _an hour and ten minutes, then we might have a chance."

"Okay, we can work with that." Danny said, letting out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding.

* * *

Back at the Wisconsin mansion, Vlad was still trying to shoo Skulker away.

"For the last time, I was _not _trying to kill _him. _I was going to kill his little _friends. _Now for the last time, Skulker, get the hell out of my sight." Vlad growled.

"Fine, Plasmius, you can do whatever you want, just do not kill the Ghost Child. He's mine for the taking."

"That's great. Now leave."

"Cranky old man…" Skulker mumbled. And with that, he floated through the ceiling and out of the mansion.

Vlad sighed, and held the bridge of his nose to regain his patience with the world. Finally, he continued doing what he had been before he was interrupted.

"I suppose I must thank you children for remaining so politely quiet. But, I must do what has to be done." Vlad turned to face the teenagers who he thought were still there.

Vlad's eyes shined a satanic shade of crimson, and he blew a hole in the ceiling with an ecto-blast.

"What in the name of—"

Gone. They were just _gone. _

"Cute, Daniel, very cute."

He floated down to the lab, where the teenagers had parked the Specter Speeder.

He growled in rage when he found that was gone too.

"I've had enough of your nonsense, Daniel." Vlad hissed to himself, slamming his fist down on the button that opened the portal. "So now, you can die right along with them. And I'll deliver your 'pelt' to Skulker, when I'm finished."

* * *

Jack and Maddie Fenton had just finished fighting off the duplicates that had brought them to the Ghost Zone. Maddie always came prepared with extra weapons hidden in her suit.

"We can't stay out here forever, Mads," Jack sighed, holding his wife close. "We'll run out of oxygen soon."

"I know, Jack." Maddie said quietly, looking down at her son's handwritten notes. "This happened right under our noses. And we didn't even suspect that…"

"I know, baby, I know. And when we get out of here, we'll beat that excuse of a man into the dirt!"

"But he still has the kids, Jack! They could be…they could be…"

"Don't think like that, Maddie! We have to remember that our son is…that our son's…"

"That he's…"

"That he's Danny Phantom." They said together.

"I just can't believe he hid it from us that long. Who knew? Our son's a superhero!" Jack exclaimed happily.

"But we _hunted _him, Jack!" Maddie cried. "We could have hurt him! And…and the other thing…"

"It'll be okay, Mads." Jack said comfortingly to his wife. "It'll all be okay. We'll find them."

…

"MOM!"


	22. All Aboard

"There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, which we don't want anyone to know about."

-Charles Durning

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"They did it, they escaped!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes filling with tears. Maddie cried quietly into her husband's shoulder. The Specter Speeder began racing towards them, and to their surprise, it was not relief that filled them to the brim.

It was guilt.

And what they were guilty of...?

Eh, well...

Um...

Their son...uh...

He was being...um...

Well, you know what I'm talking about.

...Yikes.

The Speeder came to a stop in front of them, and Tucker opened the door. With Jazz and Tucker's help, they were able to climb in and shut the door behind them.

And there was their boy.

Their only son—who they vowed they would protect from anything that would harm him.

And they failed.

Jack and Maddie Fenton felt as if they had failed as parents.

Some people would agree with them.

The Specter Speeder was disturbingly quiet; the only sounds being the light beeps coming from the dashboard. Jack and Maddie wanted so much to run towards their son and take him into their arms, and tell him that everything would be alright.

But of course, 'everything being alright' was not certain.

Sunken by their guilt, shock, and nervousness about how her son might feel around them, Jack and Maddie stood as still as statues, not daring to make eye contact with anyone.

Danny felt the same way. He longed to hug both of his parents, and cry shamelessly into their shoulders. But he too, was afraid of what his parents felt around him.

He'd hid everything from them. His health, his well-being, his injuries...

...His status as a half ghost,

...The fact that he was...

You know, going through _that _for almost two and a half months.

I don't think I really need to remind you of those _lovely _moments.

"Mom..." Jazz said quietly, eyeing the papers in her parents' hands. She still didn't know what was going on. "And dad...I think you should...I think you and Danny should...talk for a while. I still don't know what's going on here, but if I could...you know..." She motioned towards the papers.

"I don't...I don't know, Jasmine. I don't think you should—" Maddie murmured, but was interrupted.

"Let her read them, Mads." Jack whispered to his wife. "We won't be able to heal if not everyone knows what's going on."

Maddie nodded and carefully handed the papers over to her daughter. Everyone in the Speeder heard Danny take in a sharp breath of air. Sam murmured to him reassuringly.

"Um, Mister and Misses F, we really need to go. He...he could...um...anyway...I'll take the wheel, Danny." Tucker said awkwardly, as he replaced Danny in the driver's seat.

The Speeder began moving again, and Danny finally looked up at his parents.

Even his father was crying.

Willing some strength from within, he worked up the courage to speak.

"Guys, I..."

Before Danny could say three words, Jack and Maddie pulled their son into an enormous hug, and the apologies ran off their tongues before they knew they were even talking.

"We're so sorry...we're so, so sorry, baby...we just...we just..." Maddie sobbed into her son's shoulder as she hugged him tightly.

"We're...we're so sorry for everything, Danny..." Jack squeezed his son tighter.

Danny didn't care that he couldn't breathe due to their hugging. He squeezed them back and started to cry himself.

"I'm—I'm sorry I couldn't tell you..." Danny sniffled into his father's shoulder. "I was just trying to...just trying to..."

"Protect us." Maddie finished.

"Because that's what Danny Phantom does, he protects people." Jack smiled proudly at his son.

A fresh flood of tears poured down Danny's cheeks, and he didn't even care that Sam was in the Speeder, seeing every wimpy thing he was doing.

Sam didn't care, because her eyes were getting pretty glassy too, as much as she didn't want to admit it.

* * *

As the Specter Speeder raced towards Fenton Works, Danny was tucked in between Jack and Maddie, listening to them go on about how 'it would all be okay' and that 'we have nothing to worry about'.

As much as they wanted to, no one could believe their words.

The Speeder passed many ghosts on the way, who looked on nervously as the Speeder went by—because they knew it belonged to Danny Phantom.

And chances are—they probably know what happened.

Jazz emerged from the back of the Speeder, clutching the papers tightly, and her face deathly pale. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but she said nothing.

So, everyone's on board now.

Finally, the portal that led to the Fentons' lab came into view. Tucker floored the gas, and in the portal they went.

Everyone jumped out of the Specter Speeder, and Danny slammed the locks on the portal.

"So, Danny..." Jack started. "Could you...could you use your...you know, ghost powers?"

"I can't exactly right now..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Vlad shocked him with 'The Plasmius Maximus', Mister Fenton." Sam explained. "It represses his powers for three hours."

"He was hit with it around five o'clock." Tucker said. "They should come back about ten minutes after eight o'clock."

Jack and Maddie fidgeted nervously, not knowing what to say. "Well, it's 7:20 right now, so you have about forty-five minutes left before they come back." Maddie added.

"We can hold out for that long, most definitely." Jack nodded. "But, um...do you think you could answer a question for me?"

"Anything, Dad." Danny replied.

"How did...how did Masters get his ghost powers?" Jack questioned.

Danny looked to Sam and Tucker, who nodded in encouragement.

"He got them the day you activated your college ghost portal." Danny said. "Remember? He had the ecto-acne?"

Jack and Maddie nodded in understanding.

"That explains almost everything...but how could the acne give him ghost powers? How is it even possible to _get _ghost powers...if you don't mind me asking, Danny." Jack asked slowly, knowing this was a touchy subject.

"Well, uh, it wasn't the acne that gave him the powers. When he was shocked by the portal, his cells were infused with ectoplasm."

"That's how he became so rich..." Maddie pondered furiously to herself. "He _stole _the money. No one even knew..."

"He's done bad things with his powers, Mom." Danny said quietly.

"But I just don't understand how it's _possible._" Jack said, pacing around. "How can cells just...accept the ectoplasm?"

"Danny's proven that it's possible, dear." Maddie said. "If he was shocked...wait. Were you shocked, Danny?"

Danny, Sam, and Tucker stared at the ground.

"Yup," Danny replied quietly. "Seven months ago. I went into the ghost portal, I tripped and accidently turned it on, I got shocked. And then; poof! Half ghost."

"Interesting..." Maddie whispered.

"Mom..." Jazz warned. "I think we have more important things to be worried about right now."

Jack and Maddie were pulled away from their thoughts, and replied to their daughter. "Sorry, and you're right."

"We're all going to be okay." Jack declared. "I'm going to rip Masters apart, _molecule by molecule._"

* * *

The family and friends charged up their most useful weapons, and Maddie suggested that they set up the Ghost Shield, so that Vlad wouldn't be able to get in.

"Vlad could turn human to enter, Misses F." Tucker informed her. "And then he can switch back into ghost form once he's inside."

"I do it all the time." Danny said with a ghost of a smile. "And this fight has to end now. Vlad's little parade will end _today._"

Jack and Maddie nodded, furious at the thought of Vlad Masters.

Their old college 'friend'.

Standing with determination, the Fentons, Sam, and Tucker, waited for _him _to show up.

It _would _end today.

_...would it...?_

Until next time, friends.


	23. He's Going Ghost

**ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT AFTER THIS ONE!**

* * *

"What is told into the ear of a man is often heard a hundred miles away."

-Chinese Proverbs

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Nervous, but ready, they stood their ground, waiting for _him _to show up.

Every time Maddie looked over at Danny, she felt like the most terrible person to ever walk the Earth. What kind of mother was she?

It wasn't the standard 'I feel like the worst mother alive because I couldn't buy my kid a puppy' feeling.

It was the unique 'I _am _the worst mother alive because my husband and I's invention made my kid half-ghost and he uses his powers for good but we hunted him anyway because we're morons and also he was being sexually assaulted by this creepy rich man that hits on me and we didn't know any of this was happening until his friends almost died' feeling.

Tears rolled down Maddie's cheeks and she pulled Danny close.

"I'm so sorry, baby," She cried into his messy black mop of hair. "I could've protected you...I'm a terrible mother...terrible mother..."

Danny returned the hug and buried his face into her shoulder, a few tears escaping his eyes too. "Mom..."

Jack and Jazz came over and pulled them into a giant bear hug.

"I'm sorry." Danny whispered.

"Son..." Jack sighed. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. You are the strongest, most amazing person the world could ever ask for."

"Things _will _get better." Maddie promised. "For everyone."

Danny tried to mute his sniffles, but to no avail did it work.

_GHOST DETECTED_

_THIS IS NOT A DRILL_

_GHOST DETECTED_

_JACK FENTON ROCKS_

The Fenton family jumped and pulled out their weapons. Sam joined them, while Tucker checked the ghost radar.

"Get ready." Sam whispered.

After a few seconds of absolute quiet, with the exception of the ghost alarm, our favorite eerie voice was heard from above.

"The hug was sweet. Too bad this is about to get sour."

With a gulp, they all looked up.

Plasmius floated near the ceiling, along with five duplicates. Each had a confident grin on their face.

The Fentons wiped away their tears and pointed their weapons at Vlad.

"It was a cute stunt, Daniel. But honestly, did you really think you could hide from me?" Vlad asked with a chuckle.

"Listen up, Plasmius." Danny deadpanned. "This isn't a game. If one person in this room gets hurt, then I'll be looking down at _you _in _your _coffin."

"Ah, you were always witty, weren't you? That's always been one of the top things I absolutely cannot stand about you."

Sam snuck up behind Vlad and shot him in the back, making the man hiss. Vlad prepared to fire at her, but Danny jumped in.

"Do _not lay a finger on her._" Danny hissed. If it weren't a life-threatening moment, Sam would have been blushing.

"Very well, Daniel." Vlad said. "If a fight is what you want, then a fight is what you'll get."

Everyone sprang into action. Jack and Maddie took on the Real Vlad while the teenagers took on the duplicates.

Shots fired.

Blasts made large, smoking holes in the walls.

Punch.

Kick.

_Slam._

The teenagers had gotten two of the five duplicates down, and even when fighting, Vlad and Danny taunted each other left and right.

"You only got two?" Vlad scoffed. "I've seen kittens fight better than you!"

"I've seen kittens attract more mates than you!" Danny yelled.

Vlad dodged a blast from Jack and kept going. "None of this would have happened if you were capable of keeping a secret, Daniel!"

"YOU DID THIS TO MAKE ME WEAK!" Danny screamed, shooting him with an ecto-gun, and hitting him dead on.

After recovering from the blast, Vlad scoffed. "Obviously, Daniel."

Ten more minutes of non-stop fighting passed by, and everyone was getting wiped out. Danny prayed to whatever God existed for his powers to return.

"You know," Vlad began. "Actually, none of this would have happened if you, Maddie, had done what a normal person would do and become my wife, if Daniel would have grown a brain and become _my _son! _None of this_ would have happened, Daniel!"

Maddie didn't think she could contain as much anger as she did in that moment.

"You are a disgusting _excuse _of a man!" She screamed. "I never even cared for you in _college! _I never, _ever _loved you, and based on the man you've become, _no one _could ever love you! After all you've done...after all the people you've hurt...after you dared to lay a finger on my son! You _dare _say something like that?!"

"You could have moved forward in your life, Masters!" Jack yelled. "You could have used your powers to do _good _things in life, like my son! You could have _had _a good life! But you _live in the past!_"

Everyone was extremely surprised to see the not-so-bright Jack Fenton turn into a serious, almost scary man.

Vlad grew flabbergasted, and then angry.

In one blast, he knocked the weapons out of the teens' hands, and each duplicate pinned them to the wall.

"Let GO!" Danny shouted.

"Not a chance." Each duplicate snickered.

Vlad shot blast after blast at Jack and Maddie—who jumped out of the way with not even a second to spare.

"You put your son on _such _a pedestal." Vlad said, rolling his eyes. "He's going nowhere with his 'superhero' career. If he would've just listened to me, everything would have been better for him. Most of the 'hero acts' he does aren't even close to doing good things for the town."

"Shut UP!" Danny shouted. "I'm so DONE WITH YOU!"

Vlad, Jack, and Maddie continued fighting, while the teenagers struggled to get free. Danny continued shouting at Vlad to let them go, when...

"Danny! Look at the clock!" Sam and Tucker screamed at the same time.

Danny snapped his head towards the clock, and almost smiled.

8:10.

He could feel the slightest bit of adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Vlad had the upper hand on Jack and Maddie, and Danny prayed for the adrenaline to come quicker.

'_Come on, COME ON!'_

And...

There it was.

Tucker was right, for once.

Sam looked at Danny and smiled.

"I'M GOING GHOST!"


	24. The Wail That Saved Them All

**...The second to last chapter, guys...**

* * *

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Snow-white hair,

Glowing green eyes,

Black hazmat suit,

And the confident and determined smirk.

Fueled by his anger and determination, he effortlessly took down all the duplicates with blasts and punches. He was surprised at his sudden strength—usually, when he fought Vlad or one of his duplicates, he lost terribly.

Well, not this time.

Vlad was still solely focused on taking down Jack and Maddie. Danny whispered something to Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, and they all nodded. They ducked underneath a table and covered their ears.

Do you have an idea of what is about to transpire here?

Danny caught the eyes of Jack and Maddie, who gasped in awe.

'_Get down.' _Danny mouthed to them.

Looking a bit confused, they ducked underneath a table.

"You've reduced to hiding?" Vlad asked, mockingly, completely unaware of what was about to break lose. "I'm surprised you can fit under that table, Jack."

"HEY FROOT-LOOP!"

Vlad whipped around towards the sound of his young rival's shout. He was furious when he saw Danny floating in ghost form.

"This will only hurt a lot." Danny said, smirking.

Taking a deep breath and clenching his fists, Danny opened his mouth;

And let loose a Ghostly Wail.

Jack and Maddie now understood why Danny told them to get down.

The house shook. The equipment smashed into the walls at the force of Danny's power. Vlad was thrown into the wall, and a table slammed into him right after.

Danny continued the Wail until he felt his body begging him to return to human form. When the sound of the deafening Ghostly Wail had finally stopped, all was silent. Jack and Maddie stared at their son, wide-eyed and mouths agape. The other teenagers wore a smile of confidence and pride in their friend.

Vlad, however, was still on the ground with the table on top of him. There was no sign of consciousness to speak of.

Jack walked over to Vlad, while Maddie ran over to Danny.

"Danny..." She breathed in awe, "That...that was amazing."

Danny gave a twitch of a smile in response, but then snapped his head towards Vlad.

"He's out now," Jack said from across the room. "But he won't stay that way for long."

The other three teenagers crawled out from under the table and took their places next to Danny.

"What...what should we do with him?" Jazz asked, pointing to Vlad.

"I want to kill him." Maddie growled. "I want him dead."

"We can't kill him, Mads," Jack replied. "The media would be all over the case."

"Then let's just kill half of him." Sam said.

Jack and Maddie looked at her confusedly. "Kill half of him?" Jack asked.

"She means we should take away his ghost powers." Danny informed them.

"How do we do that?" Maddie wondered.

Tucker jumped in on this one. "The Portal—if it can give you ghost powers, it can take them away too."

"He's right." Danny said.

All was silent for a moment while they were thinking. _Should_ they take away Vlad's ghost powers? He definitely deserved it, that's for sure. His ghost half wouldn't be missed. It was the only way they could possibly get revenge, too.

Vlad stirred, and tried to get up, but Danny absentmindedly shot him with an ecto-blast, which quickly brought him back down.

"I think it should be up to Danny." Jack concluded. "He should have the grand decision in this."

"You're right. Do we all agree?" Maddie asked.

Everyone nodded and looked at Danny encouragingly.

Stunned, Danny pondered on this for a moment.

If Danny took away Vlad's ghost powers, he could have his life back. No more Plasmius, no more...you know what, and no more being afraid.

But it would also mean that Danny would truly be the only half ghost in existence.

Not that he cared.

He was absolutely, one-hundred percent _done._

He wanted his life back.

"Let's do it." Danny nodded.

Everyone nodded. Maddie opened the portal, and unplugged it. Danny had a strong case of deja-vu, because this was exactly how the portal looked when he first stepped in it...

Jack dragged Vlad across the lab and tossed him into the portal. Everyone was ready.

"You guys know the 'on' button is _inside_ the portal, right? That actually explains how I got my powers." Danny chuckled nervously.

"So _that's _how it worked!" Jack exclaimed. "Well son, why don't you shoot one of those green things out of your hands to turn it on?"

Without a second thought, Danny aimed for the 'on' button, and hit it dead on.

The portal sparked to life, and Vlad's yells could be heard from the inside. But no one moved, no one spoke, they all just watched emotionlessly.

It stopped as soon as it started. The portal still had smoke coming out of it, but Jack quickly went inside and dragged the billionaire out.

Jack and Maddie nodded to each other, and together they said; "We'll be back."

And without another word, they threw Vlad into the Specter Speeder and climbed inside.

Then they took off.

"Mom! Where are you going?" Jazz yelled.

But they were already in the Ghost Zone.

"What the heck?" Tucker exclaimed. "Where did they go?"

"They probably went to throw him back into his house, Tucker." Sam exhaled.

They were all quiet for a moment, when Tucker finally said;

"It's all over."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie had just reached Vlad's portal, and they were driving through it as the teens spoke.

Vlad slowly began to regain consciousness, and he was confused as to why he was in the Specter Speeder.

"What in blazes?" Vlad growled. "Let me out of here!"

Jack reached Vlad's lab, and he through the billionaire out of the Speeder and into his home.

"I demand an explanation!" Vlad shouted. Seeing Vlad try to morph into his ghost half—the one that didn't exist anymore—Maddie chuckled darkly.

"The only explanation we're giving you is that you no longer have your powers, Masters." Jack stated.

Vlad slowly let this sink in, vaguely remembering what had recently transpired. The only thing he could reply with was a pathetic plead.

"Jack, old friend..."

"You are no friend of mine." Jack growled.

"Please, you're making a big mistake."

Maddie was about to open to door to the Speeder, when she glared at Vlad with more hate than hell could contain.

"The only one who made a mistake here was _you._" She snarled. "You _dared_ to hurt my family?! You dared to harm my child?!"

"I will sincerely apologize, Madeline! Just give me the chance!"

Maddie spoke loud and clear; "Do not speak to us ever again. Do not dare to even come in contact with us. You are a foul, disgusting excuse of a human being."

As Jack and Maddie were about to leave, Jack stated something darkly; "You're damn lucky people would notice if you were gone. If no one would notice, we would have killed you without a second thought."

And with that, they exited Vlad's lab and headed home.

Vlad was speechless.

* * *

The teenagers were still murmuring quietly to each other when Jack and Maddie returned home. As the couple climbed out of the Specter Speeder, everyone stared at them—their expressions begging them to tell them what happened.

After a short silence, Maddie turned to Danny. Happy tears welled in her eyes as she looked up and down at his ghost half's appearance. "You have no idea how proud I am of you."

"Mom..."

"So...this is it?" Sam asked, feeling awkward, as if she shouldn't be at this 'family reunion'. "It's...done?"

"He will never, ever show his face to us again." Jack said. "I know this is a mellow ending, and I would have loved to kill him...but you know we would be caught."

"The point is," Jazz chimed in. "We're safe. _You're _safe, Danny."

Jack and Maddie pulled Danny into a tight hug. "It's all over, Danny. You can have your life back."

* * *

**Don't leave just yet! The epilogue is next chapter!**


	25. Epilogue

"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."

-Babe Ruth

THE EPILOGUE

Aw, now isn't that sweet. Looks like everything worked out for our favorite little halfa. I'm proud of him. I bet you are too—because no one likes a sad ending. What was even going through Vlad's mind when he created this little 'plan'? Seriously, that's some messed up shit right there.

Good thing we didn't get into the details.

But that's all over and done. And now, Vlad's probably only going to step into Amity Park because of his mayoral duties.

Oh, and can you believe they actually took away Vlad's ghost powers? Killing him wasn't an option, so removing his powers was probably the next best thing. I know what you're thinking—you think that Vlad could just step into _his _portal and instantly get his powers back. But would it really be that easy? And after all the things Maddie—the 'love of his life'—screamed at him, do you really think he would just go on unaffected?

No.

But let's talk about Danny—that's what this epilogue is about!

The evening after all the "you can have your life back" gushyness, it was all hugging. Danny, Sam, and Tucker hugged it all out, and they all decided this should be 'family time'. After Danny promised Sam and Tucker he would text them that very night, his friends headed back home; wondering how they would explain to their parents as to why they were missing for a day and a half.

After his friends had left, Danny sat in between his parents and sister on the big couch in the living room. It was very quiet for a while. They all fell asleep on the couch—cheesy and corny family stuff.

Danny felt very safe—something he hadn't felt in months.

The next day, Jack and Maddie discussed very carefully to the very emotionally fragile Danny about how they would move forward.

Jack and Maddie decided that Danny _needed_ to start seeing Doctor Phillips regularly; so that he could start healing. The plan was; Jack and Maddie would explain to Phillips that they had figured out what Danny was hiding. They would tell him that Danny was being sexually assaulted—not a lie—but by an unknown ghost. They would then say that they had captured the ghost and disposed of it. So, they would basically tell Doctor Phillips everything that happened, but just leave out that the ghost was Vlad.

When they called Doctor Phillips and explained this to him, the doctor agreed that Danny needed therapy once every two days.

Danny is taking the therapy well, and is quickly making progress.

Another major thing, however, is that Jack and Maddie are now aware of Danny's ghost powers.

Jack and Maddie have made the house safer—for Danny's sake. No more shoving dangerous inventions in his face and expecting him to try it out.

And Danny's good with that.

But the deal was, if the ghost fights got too rough, and Danny came home really hurt, they were going to reconsider letting him go out and fight like that.

But Danny's got nothing to worry about.

So, all and all, Dannykins is making good progress. He's fighting off the PTSD, he still has nightmares, but that's nothing a little motherly love can't fix.

In fact, just yesterday, Danny went out with his friends for the first time in two months.

"So, dude," Tucker asked, as they walked to the Nasty Burger. "How's everything...going, you know?"

"It's all getting...better." Danny assured. "The therapist has me on like five medications, and they taste disgusting."

"Hey, it could be worse," Sam replied. "You could be a lonely grey-haired man with no friends and run a dinky haunted town."

And with that,

For the first time in months,

...Danny laughed a real, genuine laugh.

* * *

**Hello, everyone! Well, this is the end. *tearing up* But hey, Danny had a happy ending! And I cannot express the amount of appreciation I have towards all of you! You guys are frickin' awesome! Your reviews made me so happy, sometimes I just had to stop for a moment and squeal to myself. You guys are just so cool...like, I can't even...**

**But anyway, this has been a fun story to write, and I absolutely love seeing your reactions-especially to the cliffhangers. Hehe. The cliffhangers were pretty mean, but hey, this isn't a story about kindness, am I right?**

**I hope you know that I love all of you, and I love your stories. I hope one of these days I'll get a new muse and write a new story.**

**Until next time!**

**Sincerely, your internet friend, Laura**


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